1 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 37 NO.254 • FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013 • N100.00

ART AND CULTURE

Page 19

POLITICSPages 22

Stars inculture

INAUGURAL MEETING: R-L: Prof. (Mrs.) Cordilia Agbebaku, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Ambrose AlliUniversity, Prof. George Akpede, CMD Irrua Teaching Hospital, Rt. Hon. (Chief) Boyelayefa, Chairman,Board of Irrua Teaching Hospital during the inaugural meeting of the Board which took place at Irruarecently. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

Towardssustainabledemocracyin Nigeria

The Nigerian

STOP OIL BUNKERINGPeople of Edo State,Government has discovered thatinspite of measures taken by se-curity agents in the State to stopillegal oil bunkering, perpetra-tors of this shady business havecontinued unabated.The State Government iswarning all those still involvedin oil bunkering in the State to,in their own interest, stop thisshady and dubious businessforthwith as stiffer penaltiesawait them.Any person or group of personscaught in the illegal businesswill be dealt with according tothe law.All vehicles and equipment usedwill be burnt.Be patriotic, report any personsuspected to be in the businessof oil bunkering to the authori-ties concerned.Join Government to rid the Stateof enemies of progress.Edo State must continue tomove forward.This message is from the Edo State

Ministry of Informationand Orientation

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Oshiomhole rolls outpalliatives

Ban On ‘Okada’

. Extends ban to Keke NAPEP,parts of Ovia N’East, Uhunmwode

Continues on page 2

... EulogisesEmir ofKano

Jonathan didn’t order sack ofPolice Chiefs - Presidency

Continues on page 2

Edo assures agric investors

We’re winning war against Boko Haram - Sambo

Continues on page 2

By DOROTHYEGBOBAMWONYI

OSSE – As part ofgovernment’s efforts atmaking Edo State the

centre for agriculturalactivities in the country,agricultural investorshave been enjoined tosite their industries in thestate instead of taking

them abroad in order toengender moreemployment in the state. This was the messageconveyed by the

Commissioner forAgriculture and NaturalResources, Hon. AbdulOroh who was on a

BENIN CITY - Edo State Governor, ComradeAdams Oshiomhole yesterday rolled out palliativemeasures to cushion the effect of the decision bythe State Security Council to ban the use ofcommercial motorcycles, popularly called Okadain the state.

However, he said thatthe decision, even as itwas painful to him, wasin the interest of thesecurity of the general

public in the state.The Governor also

warned that tricycles,popularly known as

Keke NAPEP, will not beallowed on highways inthe state, even as he

said the ban onmotorcycles extends toAduwawa which isUhunmwode LocalGovernment Area andOluku and Ekosodin in

Ovia North East LocalGovernment Areaswhich are in the Beninmetropolis.

The governor who

disclosed these during ameeting with theleadership of the OkadaRiders’ Union at the

GOVERNOR AdamsOshiomhole of Edo Statehas described the Emir ofKano, Alhaji Ado Bayero,CFR, as an embodimentof wisdom and a friend ofthe talakawa.

While congratulatingthe Emir on his 50thcoronation anniversary,Oshiomhole said “Iheartily write to paytribute and celebrate withYour Royal Highness onthis momentousoccasion of your

ABUJA - Vice-President NamadiSambo has said theongoing battle againstBoko Haram militants bythe Nigerian Army hadstarted yielding fruitful

results as normalcy hasbeen restored in thetroubled areas.

Sambo made the

statement when hereceived the UN Under-Secretary forHumanitarian Affairs

and Emergency ReliefCordinator, Mrs ValerieAmos, at the State

Continues on page 2

ABUJA - ThePresidency yesterdayrefuted reports thatPresident GoodluckJonathan has orderedthe sacking of top policeofficers.

A statement by theSpecial Adviser to thePresident on Media andPublicity, Dr ReubenAbati, said that thereports were “untrue andmost misleading’’.

“The Presidency viewsthe highly

sensationalised reportsas a deliberate attempt tocause anxiety anddisaffection amongst thetop hierarchy of thePolice Force through thewillful misrepresentation

of President Jonathan’sremarks.

“The swearing-in ofthe new chairman andmembers of the PoliceService Commission atwhich the president

spoke yesterday wasdirectly covered bymembers of the StateHouse Press Corps,’’Abati said.

He said the thrust ofthe president’s remarks

was that the newchairman and membersof the Police ServiceCommission shouldstrive to effectively

Continues on page 2

By EUBALDUS ENAHORO

2 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

NewsOmo-Ojo meets Burrow Pit

owners today

Odubu’s wife tasks 278 SkillsCentre graduates

By THOMPSONERHOMONSELE

Oshiomhole rolls out palliatives

Jonathan didn’t order sack of Police Chiefs

By FUNMI BABATOPE

Continued from page 1

We’re winning war against

Continued from page 1

... Eulogises Emir of Kano

Edo assures agric investorsworking visit to RubberEstate Nigeria Limited(RENL), Osse, Ovia South-West Local GovernmentArea of the state. The Hon. Commissionerwho was accompanied onthe visit by the Directors ofAgric Services, Mr. M.I.Ainogie and Farm Services,Mr. F.E. Ezewele werereceived by the ManagingDirector, Dr. P. Hopkins andother management staff ofthe company. Shortly after his arrival,Hon. Abdul Oroh whostressed the stategovernment’s determinationto having the largest rubberplantation in the country,hinted that the governmentpolicy was to developagriculture to an enviableheight to prevent rural/urban migration, ensure jobcreation as well as increasethe state ’s Internally

Generated Revenue. Oroh emphasised andassured of the stategovernment’s willingness toassist investors to overcomechallenges in the course ofidentifying any area which donot fall under governmentreserved areas. According to him,agreement will be entered intowith the host communities toensure that there are noencumbrances, as a way ofencouraging agriculturalinvestors. He commended RubberEstate Nigeria Limited forleaving up to its corporatesocial responsibilities to theirhost communities as well astheir sustainable policies. The Managing Director ofRENL, Mr. Hopkins haddisclosed that the companywhich was formally known asMichellin and sited on 5800hectares was a sociallyresponsible one which has

over the years executedseveral projects ranging fromconstruction of town halls,civic centres, palace fortraditional rulers, policestations, sinking of waterboreholes, grading ofcommunity roads in the hostcommunities in Edo, Delta,Ondo and Ogun States. He stressed the positiveimpact of the company on theeconomic lives of hostcommunities through theaward of scholarship aimed atencouraging excellentacademic pursuit andcontracts to qualifiedindigenes as a way ofalleviating poverty from thepeople. Mr. Hopkins said that, 1,700permanent staff and 1,800contract staff are in theemploy of RENL and hintedthat Nigeria has 18 millionhectares suitable for rubber.

Government House, BeninCity said the state governmenthas set up a committee towork out various schemes forthe genuine Okada riders,including procuring vehicles.

“Okada riders who werebanned from neighbouringstates in the North, in the South-South and the South-Westfound Edo as a safe haven andwere all rushing here in droves.“The result is that we now haveall kinds of peoplemasquerading as Okada riders.It has become extremely difficultto actually register genuineOkada riders who are inlegitimate business.

“Even at this hour, Iappreciate the fact that thereare many bike riders who aredoing very honest job andactually contributing to thesocial economic life of this state.I am never going to deny thatthey exist in good numbers.

“But unfortunately, it is alsotrue that more and more peopleare hiding under bike riding totroop to the state, use the bikefor few hours and then use thebike for all sorts of crimes,including rape, armed robbery,kidnapping, all kinds of thingsand every week, I get reportsduring security meetings; I getdetailed and graphicalillustration of how, not justpeople using bike, but okadariders, some also taking tocrime and of course they havenot respected any of the thingswe have agreed to,” he noted.

According to him, “becausemore people have found Edostate as a dumping place, thenumber of bikes in the town areprobably more than the numberof passengers. That has clearimplication for pollution, crimeand even safety on our roads.

“We have reflected andasked the question, ‘can wecontinue to adopt open doorpolicy’? I don’t think there arepeople in government who canlay claim to be more aware ofthe employment challenges inthe country much more thanmyself.

“We came to the holistic viewof the implication of the level of

crime arising substantially fromthe activities of bike riders.

“It is also clear to me that ifthe crime profile continues torise, it is also a clear implicationfor investment, nobody is goingto come to invest here if thenumber of kidnapping remainson the rise, robbery and otherviolent crimes.”

The Governor howevernoted that, “we have a duty toprovide for people who havebeen here doing Okadabusiness without underminingsecurity and so I believe thereis no better person to talk tothem than the leadership ofOkada riders that we haveknown since 2006.

“You have been there beforeI came here. Given that yourleadership is never in dispute Ibelieve we can entrust you togive us reliable information andidentify those Okada peoplewho have been here notbecause they were bannedfrom another state. Thosenumbers I am sure are a smallfraction of the total number ofokada people in Edo statetoday.

“We want to count on you toidentify those genuine okadariders as distinct from thosewho find this place a dumpingground because in their firstplace of operation, they havebeen forced to relocate.”

Comrade Oshiomhole

added that, “For those ones, Ibelieve we can partner andwork out some doablealternatives.

“If they have interest intransportation we have set upa committee already, which isbeing chaired by the chairmanof our economic team to workout various schemes includingprocuring vehicles, so thatrather than ride on two wheelswe have four wheel. “No kekeNAPEP. We are not going toencourage Keke NAPEP in EdoState, I will not allow KekeNAPEP to ply our major highways, and we will not replacetwo wheels with three wheels.That amounts to celebratingand institutionalising poverty.”

“Keke NAPEP is not analternative to Okada, becauseof pollution. We will procurebuses, the comrade bus as wellas taxis. We have opened updiscussions with some banksfor the taxis, how we can sourcefunds.

“For those interested infarming, this is an opportunityfor them to farm and earn agood living,”

The Governor assured thatthe pace of action on theremedies being worked onwould be delivered quickly sothat during the waiting time, themembers will not encounterundue hardship.

President of the Motorcycle

Union, Mr. Peter Adorohthanked the governor for thedecision to deal with thesecurity challenges which havebeen due to the migration ofcriminally minded individualsinto the state.

“We Okada riders will never doanything detrimental to the peacein the state. We have learnt fromyou not to lament, but to face thechallenges as they unfold. Wesaw the security challenge andwe tried to do our little best buttry as we may, we found that thechallenges were growing andgrowing and this was due tomigration from other states, notnecessary job migration;criminally minded ones werecoming in with all intent andpurpose,” he noted

“I know Ghanaians are here,Ivory Coast are here, BurkinaFaso are here. If you go to mydata that I’ve prepared, you willsee them. They come here fromas far as Nasarawa.”

According to him, “as you havesaid, those who have reason tobe in this state; who have therequisite documents should beaccommodated and those Okadariders from this state should beconsidered first, because theyhave been here and they willremain here, they don’t haveanother place to migrate to.

He urged the Governor toexpedite action on the palliativesto cushion the effect of the banon the displaced Okada riders.

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

landmark 50th coronationanniversary as Emir ofKano.

“Under Your RoyalHighness’ glorious reign,Kano Emirate witnessedphenomenal socio-economic, political,educational and culturaltransformation and, morethan at any time in its historyaffirmed its pre-eminentstatus, as a world-renownedEmirate, centre ofcommerce and scholarship,

and a melting pot for allNigerians. Despite the fastchanging Nigeria ’slandscape, Your RoyalHighness has remained amodel of how change can beembraced by a Communitywithout sacrificing its culturaland spiritual values.

“Significantly, in the 50years since Your RoyalHighness ascended theexalted throne of yourforbears, you haveremained a most worthyfriend of the Talakawa, whohave, in turn, always shown

uncommon admiration andfondness for their King.

“As embodiment ofwisdom and learning,compassion andselflessness, Your RoyalHighness has continued toinspire millions, as areference point in authenticleadership and service tothe Community. Youroutstanding contributions tonation building, business,diplomacy, and thepromotion of peaceful co-existence within and beyondthe Kano Emirate, havefirmly secured for YourRoyal Highness a specialplace in posterity.

“As Your Royal Highnesscelebrates today(yesterday), I pray AlmightyAllah to grant you moreyears and excellent healthon the throne.”

BENIN CITY- Edo StateCommissioner for SpecialDuties, Oil and Gas,Ambassador Orobosa Omo-Ojo (JP), will meet withBurrow Pit Owners in the statetoday. The meeting is scheduled tohold in the Ministry of SpecialDuties, Oil and Gas on EzotiStreet, Off Airport Road,Benin City at 3:00pm prompt.

A statement issued by theministry and madeavailable to TheNIGERIAN OBSERVER inBenin City yesterday saidthat members of theBurrow Pit Owners are tosubmit their CorporateSocial Responsibility(CSR) programmes andprojects for CommunityDevelopment Programmesexecuted in the last fiveyears and their CSR planfor year 2013.

BENIN CITY- The wife of EdoState Deputy Governor,Deaconess Endurance Odubuhas charged the 278 Femalegraduates of the state SkillAcquisition Centre, Evbomodu,Benin City to diligently practicewhatever vocation they havelearnt during their stay at thecentre. Deaconess Odubu gave thecharge yesterday in Benin Cityduring the 10th graduationceremony and presentation ofcertificates to the femalestudents who were trained at thecentre, in different vocations fortheir socio-economicempowerment and self reliance. The wife of the DeputyGovernor noted that the centrewill continue to provide theplatform out side the formalschool system for women tolearn and acquire new trade fortheir economic empowermentand general well being. Deaconess Odubu expressedsatisfaction that hundreds ofwomen have successfullytrained at the centre infurtherance of government’squest to enhance the socio-economic welfare of women andsociety at large. She however urged themanagement and students toprotect and maintain facilitiesprovided at the centre for trainingand instruction. While congratulating thegraduates for the wonderful feat,she enjoined them to access andtake full advantage of severalinitiatives by the stategovernment to assist them startup businesses, Mrs. Odubu alsocommended the instructors forimparting the requisiteknowledge and skills in thestudents.

Also speaking at theoccasion, the statecommissioner for WomenAffairs and SocialDevelopment, Hon. (Mrs.)Blessing Maigida, whilecongratulating thegraduands explained thatthe centre was establishedto address the problem ofprostitution and humantrafficking of young girls toforeign land through trainingin different skills so that theycan be useful to themselvesand contribute to the socio-economic development ofthe state. She called on young girlsand women in the state whodo not have life support skillsto take advantage of thefacilities provided by thecentre to advance and up lifttheir positions in the societyas opportunities for whitecollar jobs are on the declineglobally. In her welcome address,the Director of students ofthe centre, Mrs. StellamarisOkhuasuyi disclosed thatsince inception, the centrehas graduated 3,140 younggirls in various vocations,she added that the centrehas five department whichinclude, Computer,Secretariat Studies,Catering /Hotelmanagement, Hair dressing/Cosmetology and FashionDesign/Tailoring. The occasion which waswitnessed by the PermanentSecretary, Ministry ofWomen Affairs and SocialDevelopment BarristerAugustine Akhuamhenkhunalso featured presentation ofcertificate and equipment tothe best student from eachof the departments.

discharge their statutoryfunction of enhancingdiscipline and efficiency in theservice.

“President Jonathan wascertainly not giving freshorders or rewriting the ruleswhen he said: ‘People whoare promoted to AssistantCommissioner of Police andabove must merit the rank. Ifyou don’t merit the rank, youshould be retired from theservice.’

“As all police officers andtheir counterparts in theArmed Forces and securityagencies know, thepresident’s words were fullyin line with existing rules andregulations guiding careerprogression in the services,’’he said.

Abati said theAdministration of Jonathanhad granted access to allmedia organisations, whowished to report on itsactivities and had doneeverything possible tofacilitate the performance oftheir duty of correctlyinforming the public.

“In return, the Presidency

expects a much higherstandard of professionalismand accuracy than thatbeing exhibited by sectionsof the media.

“Those guilty of

deliberately distorting ortwisting the president ’swords to promote sectionalagenda and fan the embersof discord in the polityshould desist from doingso,’’ he said.

Continued from page 1House, Abuja.

He said the nation’s securityagencies had successfullydislodged and uprooted thecamps of the militants in thestates where state ofemergency was imposed by theFederal Government on May14.

“It is a common knowledgethat the action that the FederalGovernment has taken hasreally been successful.

“I can confidently say that wehave succeeded in completelyuprooting the terrorists fromtheir various locations in theNorth-East to the extent that thefear instilled on the citizenry bythe terrorists is no longer there,as the people now assist thesecurity agencies in exposingthe militants in their midst,” hesaid.

According to him, the FederalGovernment has approvedadditional supply of food andrelief materials to victims ofBoko Haram insurgency in

Adamawa, Borno and Yobestates.

He said the NationalEmergency ManagementAgency (NEMA) was beingstrengthened to enable it tomeet the challenges ofdisaster management in thecountry.

Sambo, who commendedthe security agencies forabiding by the rules ofengagement in their fightagainst terror, charged themto always avoid civiliancasualties in their efforts torestore law and order in theaffected areas.

In her remark, Amosexpressed the readiness ofthe UN to partner with Nigeriain the provision of emergencyrelief to victims of disasters.

She commended the wayand manner the 2012 flooddisaster was handled by theFederal Government, saying“the UN has a lot to learn fromyour experience in theincident.”

3 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Across The Nation

Aftermath Of Fire Disaster

Commissioner Advises Staff

President Goodluck Jonathan (4th left) and Vice President Namadi Sambo (middle)with members of Police Service Commission after their inauguration in Abuja on

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) congratulates the Chairman, Police Service Com-mission, Mr. Mike Okiro, after taking his oath of office at the Presidential Villa inAbuja on Wednesday.

Infrastructural Development

Commissioner Assures Communities

Edo CJ To Visit Prison

Gunmen Attack VillageKADUNA - Gunmen have

attacked Kwasakwasa village inBirnin Gwari Local Govern-ment Area of Kaduna State kill-ing several people includingsecurity personnel.

The attack, which came fourdays after a similar one on threevillages in the area, was said tohave occurred at about 6 am on

THE composer of thepresent Nigeria’s NationalAnthem and a retired DeputyCommissioner of Police, PaBenedict Odiase is dead.

He died at the age of 79years in a Lagos Hospital onTuesday following an undis-closed ailment. He was amember of the Nigerian Po-lice Band where he rose tothe position of a Directorbefore his retirement in

During a meeting with allmembers of staff in theMinistry’s premises, thecommissioner imploredthem to continue to face theirresponsibilities with utmostdedication, and see the fireincident as a challenge.

The commissioner furtherstated that challenges are theelements that make greatleaders, encouraging them toalways remember the minis-try in their prayers.

He further assured theministry’s staff that thosewho were displaced by theinferno would be relocated toother offices while machin-ery is put in place to repairthe damaged areas.

In response, Mrs. Gladysldahor, the Permanent Sec-retary of the Ministrythanked the commissionerfor his prompt response tothe plight of the displacedstaff, stating that all mem-

BENIN CITY- The ChiefRegistrar of the High Courtof Justice, Benin City, EdoState.

Hilary Enemaku (Esq) hasreleased the itinerary forprisons visit by the ChiefJudge of the state, JusticeC.O Idahosa and members ofthe administration of crimi-nal Justice committee of thestate.

In a letter with referenceNo. EDJ/100/LT/V/067,dated May 31 2013 the ChiefRegistrar said the visit willbe to four prison formationsin the state.

According to the letterwhich was signed by theChief Registrar, the exercisewould commence on Tues-

BENIN CITY- Edo Stategovernment is determined toensure the social infrastructuraltransformation of all the com-munities in the state.

The Commissioner, Ministryof Budget Planning and Eco-nomic Development, Hon.Lawrence Aghedo made the dis-closure in his office while play-ing host to the board membersof the Community and SocialDevelopment Programme,CSDP and contractors handlingtheir projects who paid him acourtesy /Advocacy visit.

Hon. Aghedo assured thepeople of the state thegovernor’s commitment totransforming the lives of thepeople, especially those livingin the rural communities by pro-viding basic infrastructuressuch as schools, health care cen-tres, vocational centres, indus-

UZAIRUE- The death hasoccurred of Pa AnthonyOmogbemeh Ikeke at the age of71 years.

Pa Ikeke died on June, 1,2013 at Jattu-Uzairue, after abrief illness. Until his death, hewas a businessman, agricultur-ist and community leader.

Pa Ikeke was also a dedicatedand honest practising Christian.

He is survived by 17 childrenand 37 grand children, amongstwhom is Evangelist VincentIkeke, a data-based administra-tor in the department of payrollAdministration, Informationand Communication Technol-ogy Agency, GovernmentHouse, Benin City.

Burial ceremony will com-mence on June 20, 2013 at hishome residence, Iviegbepui,Agenebode, Etsako East LocalGovernment Area.

day July 30,2013 with a visitto Oko prison, Benin City,and Central prison, BeninCity the next day. Both visitshall hold at 9 am.

The visit shall climax with

visits to Ubiaja Prison,Ubiaja and Auchi PrisonAuchi on Thursday August1, 2013 at 10 am and 1pmrespectively.

BENIN CITY – An Ijawyouth leader in Edo State,Comrade Andrew Igiri hasapplauded Governor AdamsOshiomhole’s decision ban-ning the use of motorcycles inthree metropolitan Local Gov-ernment Area in the state.

Comrade Igiri in a chatwith newsmen in Benin Citysaid the governor’s action is awelcome development that islong overdue.

According to him, thoughthe action is painful, the activi-ties of motorcycle riders weredoing more harm than good inthe state.

He used the occasion to callon all stakeholders; especially

leaders of the Action Congressof Nigeria (ACN) in OviaSouth West Local GovernmentArea to close ranks and worktogether for the overall inter-est of the party and the state ingeneral.

Congratulating the councilchairman, Hon. MorisonOgunrobo Ovia for his blueprint to develop the area, heapplauded him for setting upa committee to reconcile all thevarious interest groups in ACNin the locality.

He also urged all the ag-grieved persons in the party tosheath their sword and joinhands with the council boss inthe efforts to deliver demo-cratic dividend.

Ban On Okada: Ijaw Youth

Leader hails OshiomholeBy EDOBOR DANIEL

Pa Omogbemeh

Ikeke Dies At71

National

Anthem Com-

poser Dies At

79

tries and electricity. The commissioner stated that

the state government would en-sure the payment of its own sideof the counterpart fund soon inits drive to ensure that the ru-ral areas are given dividend ofdemocracy, noting that govern-ment is the collective responsi-bility of all segment of the so-ciety.

Honourable Aghedo thankedthe people for the visit, notingthat his appointment as a com-missioner in the state is an op-portunity to serve the peopleand assured that governmentwould continue to collaboratewith CSDP in order to bring

development to the grassroots. Earlier, Edo State CSDP

Board Chairperson, Dr. (Mrs.)Nosa Aladeselu, informed thecommissioner that the visit wasto seek the support and assis-tance of the state government inproviding basic infrastructuralamenities in the communitiesthrough prompt payment of itsshare of counterpart fund.

She appealed to the commis-sioner to assist in influencingdevelopment to the communi-ties in order to create employ-ment for the people.

Members of communitiespresent thanked the Governor,

Comrade Adams Oshiomholefor the developmental projectsin their communities, whichthey said was through theCSDP.

BENIN CITY- The Com-missioner for Higher Educa-tion, Barr. Washington Osifohas advised the staff of theMinistry of Education, espe-cially those whose officeswere affected by the fire out-break to keep a firm resolvenot to be deterred in the ex-ecution of their duties.

bers of staff will work handin hand to ensure that theministry’s activities will notcollapse as a result of the fireoutbreak.

Thursday.A resident of Kwasakwasa,

located about 70 kilometresfrom Birnin Gwari, MallamIsa Jatau, told newsmen in atelephone interview inKaduna that four vehiclesbelonging to security person-nel were also burnt.

He said several other villag-ers and security men were in-jured, but added that the brav-ery of soldiers and other secu-rity officers helped to fend offthe attackers.

The Secretary of the localgovernment, Alhaji ZubairuZakariya, confirmed the attackon the village but said details

on the casualty was being com-piled.

He said that the Chairman ofthe council, Alhaji IdrisAlhassan had helped to conveythe victims of the attack toBirnin Gwari General Hospital.

The Police Commissioner inthe state, Mr. OlufemiAdenaike, told newsmen that hewas awaiting details on the in-cident.

Reports say that the thick for-est in the area which stretchesto parts of Zamfara, Katsina,Niger, and the Southern part ofthe country was being used ascover by armed gangs for sometimes.

4 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Health Officer Laments

Standards Of Restaurants

Across The Nation

Judiciary Workers DemandMay Salary

OndoAssemblyRecalls

SuspendedLegislator

NAMA Diverts PlaneCarrying Governor

Wamakko

Customs

Hands Over

Drug Suspect

To NDLEA

OSOGBO - Mrs. AyoadeOgungbenro, anenvironmental healthofficer in Osun, has allegedthat operators of localrestaurants known as“buka’’ are not adhering tohealthy practices on foodpreparation.

Ogungbenro made thisknown in an interview with

newsmen in Osogbo.He said that the “buka or

mama put’’ operatorsmade it difficult forsanitary officers toascertain the state ofanimals, like goats, theyslaughtered for publicconsumption.

The officer, who is theTreasurer, Osun StateEnvironmental HealthOfficers Association, saidthat most of themslaughtered their goatsbefore the arrival ofsanitary inspectors to theirpremises.

“They virtually make itdifficult for us to carry outour inspection as they arein the habit of slaughteringgoats for consumptionwithout inspection.

“This does not mean thatwe have stopped ourroutine inspection, it isjust that many of the foodsellers do not follow theprocedures,’’ Ogungbenrosaid.

She, however, said thatenvironmental healthofficers had good workingrelationship with butchers,who she said, had realisedthe benefits of goodsanitary practices.

“While we can give aclean bill of health to cowsslaughtered in Osun, wecannot authoritatively givesuch clean bill to rams andgoats slaughtered inobscure areas.

“We are still trying toencourage them toappreciate the need toensure that only healthygoats are sold toconsumers’’ she said.

She said there was stillmuch to be done to ensurethat only healthy animalswere sold to unsuspectingmembers of the public.

“That is why we adviseour people to be wary inpatronising such localjoints, especially when itcomes to beefconsumption.’’

AWKA - Workers in theAnambra Ministry of Justicehave decried the delay inpayment of May, 2013 salary.

Reports say that the stategovernment and judicialauthorities disagreed over therecruitment of more than 100workers by the Judicial ServiceCommission (JSC).

The state government saidthat the February exercise wasdone with its approval.

Some workers of theministry, who spoke tonewsmen, described thesituation as unacceptable andunbearable, noting that it hadresulted to poor performancesat work.

“We are feeling the impact ofthe delay and it is alreadyaffecting our performance.

“How can they say that theyare not aware of therecruitment when the Attorney-General and Commissioner forJustice, Mr. Peter Afuba,attended the meeting whereJSC took the decision

“We are not happy. We willsoon stop coming to work

because we don’t havetransport money, we pity thenew staffs because they havenot received salary sinceFebruary.

“The government shouldcome out and let us knowtheir stand, we are tired,” theDeputy Chief Registrar(Administration), Mrs. IreneNdigwe, said.

The Chairman, JudiciaryStaff Union of Nigeria(JUSUN), Mr. Mark Ifezue,said the union had met withthe Head of Service with aview to resolving the impasse.

“As it is now, we areexpecting the Head ofService, Mr. Chidi Ezeoke, togive us his final opinion onthe payment of salary.

“The state government’sposition is that they will notpay the new staff, but thatwon’t work.

“Our position remains thatthey must pay all staffbecause the Judicial Service

Commission has the powers torecruit staff,” Ifezue said.

The Deputy Director(Administration), Mr.Emmanuel Nnaemeka, said thatthe JSC had powers under thelaw to employ, discipline andpromote staff.

“So, when the stategovernment talks of waiver, I

don’t know what they mean bythat.

“The constitution also statesthat money coming fromrevenue allocation should bepaid to the judiciary and courtswhich has not been observedby the executive arm.

“It is like we are under cashtrap by the executive arm. Weare not challenging them, weare only asking that they givewhat is due to us,” Nnaemekasaid.

ABUJA - The Ministry ofAviation in Abuja has saidthat the Nigerian AirspaceManagement Agency(NAMA) has diverted anAircraft carrying, GovernorAliyu Wamako of SokotoState, for safety.

This is contained in astatement issued by Mr. JoeObi, the Special Adviser tothe Minister of Aviation,Stella Oduah, in Abuja.

“A Donnier 328 aircraftcarrying Governor Wamakoand other passengers fromthe Nnamdi AzikiweInternational Airport, Abujato Sokoto airport wasdiverted to Kaduna airport

for safety and securityprecaution measure.

“This followed the nearbreakdown of law and orderat the Sokoto Airport by anunruly crowd of Wamako’ssupporters who broke thefence on their way to thetarmac, to welcome thegovernor.

“Effort by securitypersonnel to prevent thebreach of security andmovement into theprohibited and restrictedareas of the airport was metwith stiff resistance from thecrowd.

“Sensing that the securityand safety of the governorand other passengers is inreal danger, NAMA decidedto divert the aircraft toKaduna Airport to restorenormalcy at the airport,” itstated.

The statement noted thatthe governor and otherpassengers on board hadsince returned and landedsafely at the airport, after thecrowd had been restrainedfrom entering the restrictedzone.

OWERRI - The NigerianCustoms Service (NCS), FederalOperations Unit zone C, Owerri,has handed over a suspected drugtrafficker, Kola Onakinola, to theNational Drug LawsEnforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The NCS also handed over tothe NDLEA the 73.1kg ofsubstance suspected to becannabis worth of N2.6 million,found on the suspect.

The Comptroller of Customsin the zone, Mr. Victor Dimka,who handed over the suspect,said the substance was concealedin nine sacks.

He said his men arrested thesuspect on Enugu-Port HarcourtRoad following a tip-off.

Dimka said that the exercisewas necessary to enable theagency to further investigate thematter and take appropriateaction.

The comptroller stressed theneed for cooperation among theorganisations in the zone toensure efficiency in theiroperation.

He said the consumption ofIndian hemp was dangerousbecause of its negative healthand social implications.

Dimka said that criminals suchas armed robbers and kidnappersusually used the bannedsubstance, before embarking ontheir nefarious activities.

The Assistant StateCommander, (Administrationand Logistics) in the agency, Mr.Abdul Momodu, gave anassurance that the commandwould take appropriate actionson the issue.

AKURE - The Ondo StateHouse of Assembly has recalledMr. Ayodeji Arowele who wassuspended on March 19 forallegedly being in possession ofsome House documents illegally.

Arowele, representing OwoConstituency I, was also accusedof making the documentsavailable to the opposition, anaction that was taggedparliamentary misconduct.

The Speaker, Mr. SamuelAdesina, announced thesuspension on Wednesdayduring plenary, adding that therecall was an unanimousdecision of every member of theHouse at a parliamentarymeeting.

Adesina said the legislatorshould resume on Thursday toenable him continue with hislegislative assignments andcommitments to his people.

He also announced that aspecial sitting would be heldtoday in honor of a formerlegislator, Chief AyodeleAwodeyi, who died recently atOwo, Ondo State.

Awodeyi served in theimmediate past sixth legislativeassembly in the state.

Rt. Hon. (Chief) Boyelayefa Debekeme, Chairman, Board of Management, Irrua Teach-ing Hospital (right) with Prof. George Akpede, CMD Irrua Teaching Hospital at theinaugural meeting of the Board at Irrua. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

Rt. Hon. (Chief) Boyelayefa Debekeme, Chairman, Management Board of Irrua Teach-ing Hospital making a speech during a courtesy visit to the Oba of Benin with membersof the Board in Benin City recently. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

5 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Across The Nation

June 12: Fashola, Tinubu WantDemocracy Consolidated

L-R: Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Labour and Productivity,Chief Emeka Wogu, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ms Amma Pepple andMinister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyattu Rufa’i at the Federal Executive Council meetingrecently.

L-R: Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Abba Aji, Secretary to theGovernment of the Federation, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, Vice President Namadi Samboand President Goodluck Jonathan at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abujarecently.

Implement Law On Free Education, Falana Urges FG

Jonathan, NOA CondoleFamily Of National An-

them Composer

Government

Advised To

Cut Cost Of

GovernanceLAGOS-Government at both

Federal and State levels havebeen advised to reduce the costof governance.

The appeal was made by Prof.Abubakar Momoh while mak-ing his speech on 2nd Anniver-sary of 7th Assembly and 20years of June 12.

The professor who was aguest lecturer at the occasionremarked that the cost of gov-ernance is too high and alsoadvised that parents should en-courage their children to go toschool, saying that it is a crimenot to send children to school.

Prof. Momoh appealed togovernment to always followdue process while awardingcontracts.

On the Nigeria police, theProf. advised that Nigeria po-lice force has to be reformedaccording to MD Yusuf report.He also called for proper over-sight on the health sector, add-ing that pension system isfaulty. Professor Momohwarned the ministry of works tostop carrying out work that aremost unacceptable to the pub-lic. He lamented that govern-ment appropriates money forwork not done.

In addition, Prof. Pat Utomisaid “we have not recognizedtrue meaning of June 12; to un-derstand the challenge of June12 is to understand legitimacy“ .Pat Utomi remarked that ifgovernment has no acceptance,there would be a coup. He ob-served that there is deep erosionof legitimacy. He reiterated thatdemocracy since 1999 showsthat Nigeria has lost legitimacy.Commenting, the speaker Lagosstate house of assembly, Rt.Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji re-marked” we all have essentialrole to play; if we all do itrightly, we can think of a betterNigeria.

The occasion was graced byformer Governor of Lagos StateAlhaji Lateef Jakande, SenatorOluremi Tinubu and other toppolicies.

of the June 12, 1993 Presiden-tial Election.

He said that 20 per cent ofthe consolidated revenue shouldbe plunged into education.

“20 per cent of the consoli-dated revenue should be put inthe Universal Basic Fund

ABUJA - President GoodluckJonathan has commiseratedwith the family, colleagues, as-sociates and friends of the com-poser of Nigeria’s National An-them, Pa Benedict Odiase, whopassed away on Tuesday.

This is contained in a state-ment issued in Abuja by theSpecial Adviser to the Presidenton Media and Publicity, DrReuben Abati.

“President Jonathan believesthat the late police officer, whowas the Director of the Nige-rian Police Band until he retiredin 1992, will always be remem-bered and honoured wheneverthe National Anthem whichcaptures the vision of Nigeriaas a great nation is played.

“As he is mourned, the Presi-

mocracy,’’ he said.The governor described the

June 12, 1993 as a watershedin the political history of thenation as it symbolised hope forthe Nigeria we all desired .

He explained the disregard ofethnic, religious and ideologi-cal sentiments by voters duringthe elections showed that Nige-rian could have a model democ-racy if the right things weredone.

“We must rise from this an-

IKEJA - Governor.Babatunde Fashola of LagosState has urged Nigerians to beirrevocably committed to effortsthat will help consolidate thenation’s democracy.

Fashola, who spoke at aprogramme commemorating the20th anniversary of June12,1993 elections in Ikeja, saiddemocracy, in spite of its chal-lenges, still remained the bestform of government.

He urged Nigerians to shunacts that could weaken or trun-cate it, saying that everyone

should work toward its im-provement to deliver the de-sired objectives.

Reports say that the theme ofthe programme is, “ElectoralSystem: The Bane of PoliticalInstability in Nigeria’’.

“There are those who contendthat we do not have a democ-racy yet. While I understandtheir frustrations, I regret that Ido not share in their convic-tions.

“We, indeed, have a democ-racy, indeed every student ofconstitutional history will tell

you that.“What I think is the problem

is that our democracy is besetwith challenges that are man-made and institutional. It isthese challenges that we mustsurrender to.

“One thing that our democ-racy cries out largely for is thatit should be nurtured by lawand order.

“We should address this de-ficiency and work assiduouslytoward consolidating this de-

niversary and identify a cultureof impunity arising from a de-ficiency in law and order as themost single threat to our demo-cratic aspirations.

“If we continue to accumulaterhetoric about law and order,impunity will entrench itselflike a malignant cancer,” hesaid.

Fashola described late MKOAbiola, as a firm believer indemocracy and rule of law, say-ing he would continue to remaina source of inspiration to peoplewho believed in democracy as

dent urges Pa Odiase’s family,former colleagues in the policeand friends across the countryto be consoled by the knowl-edge that the late police officerlived an exemplary life.

“In passing on, he bequeathedan indelible legacy to the nationwhich will continue to inspirepresent and future generationsof Nigerians to greater heightsof accomplishment,’’ Abatisaid.

He said that the presidentprayed for the peaceful reposeof Pa Odiase’s soul.

The National OrientationAgency (NOA) also commiser-ated with Nigerians over thedeath of Pa Benedict Odiase.

Mr. Mike Omeri, Director-General of NOA sent the con-dolences in a message issued inAbuja.

In the message, Omeri de-scribed Pa Odiase, who died inBenin on Tuesday night, as anicon of patriotism and nation-alism who lived a fulfilled lifein the service of his fatherland.

He noted that the contributionof the late patriot to nationbuilding by giving Nigeria oneof its unique national symbolswas unequal.

Omeri said that the NigeriaNational Anthem, which Odiasecomposed in May 1978, stoodas an enduring legacy for whichposterity would forever admirehim.

Omeri said, “Nigeria has losta patriot, a foremost national-ist, an epitome of loyalty to thefatherland.

“His selfless service to thenation in his days as a policeofficer saw him rise to DeputyCommissioner of Police andDirector of Music at the Nige-ria Police Band before he re-tired meritoriously in 1992.’’

He said that it was sad thatsuch a reputable figure inNigeria’s nationhood was takenaway from the people at a mo-ment when they needed himmore to draw from his inspira-tion.

Omeri said that Odiase tookhis exit when it was expedientto render various talents andabilities toward building a morevirile Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians to takesolace in his monumentallegacy.

He also urged them to ensurethat what he said in his compo-sition of “our National Anthemthe labour of our heroes’ pastsuch as Pa Benedict Odiase’s,shall never be in vain.’’

“His death is a big loss, es-pecially as he was billed to bepart of the National SymbolsDay celebration and the “Do theRight Thing: Remember OurHeroes Past” programmes ofthe agency.

“We pray for the repose of hissoul and for God Almighty togrant his family the fortitude tobear this irreparable loss,’’ theD-G said.

LAGOS - Human Rights ac-tivist and constitutional lawyerFemi Falana has called on theFederal Government to addressthe rot in the education sectorand implement the law on freeeducation for Nigerian children.

Falana made the call in Lagosin a lecture he delivered to com-memorate the 20th anniversary

(UBE) Fund.“ It is the business of the Fed-

eral Government to put everyNigerian child in school; 10.5million of our children areroaming the streets, 55 millionNigerians are illiterate.”

Falana urged the Nigerian

media to create awareness toensure that children were edu-cated through the UBE scheme.

He said that 52 per cent of thenation’s revenue was allocatedto the Federal Government,adding that the government wasnot doing enough to justify thehuge amount.

He said that the late MKOAbiola, the acclaimed winner ofthe June 12, 1993 presidentialelection, had a good programmefor the eradication of poverty inthe country.

Quoting some sections of theNigerian Constitution, Falanaexplained that the provisions ofthe constitution mandated theFederal Government to makeeducation free for children.

He called on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to imple-ment that provision of the con-stitution.

In his remarks, veteran Jour-nalist and former governor ofOgun, Chief Segun Osoba,urged the INEC Chairman, Prof.Attahiru Jega to ensure that theAll Peoples Congress (APC)was registered.

“Jega must not bow to anypressure, lets have a two partysystem, ‘’ he said, adding thatthe APC would chart a new pathto replace the defunct SocialDemocratic Party.

6 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

South West Former Head Of Service Calls For More Vocational

Centres

NUT Calls Off Strike In

4

States

Labour Tasks FG On Private Practice

Ondo Spends N250m On Food

Security

Oyo To Host Competition

For Physically Challenged

AKURE - The Ondo StateGovernment spent more than250 million as counterpart fundsince 2008 to assist farmers inthe implementation of the Na-tional Programme for Food andSecurity.

This was disclosed by Mr.Idowu Olabode, theProgramme Manager of the

LAGOS - Additional fourstates have agreed to implementthe Teachers Salary Structure(TSS), 12 days into an indefi-nite strike by the NigerianUnion of Teachers (NUT) overnon implementation of the sal-ary structure.

The strike was also to protestnon implementation of theN18,000 national minimumwage by the governments of thestate.

IBADAN - Prof. OladapoAfolabi, a former Head of Ser-vice of the Federation, in hascalled on the government to es-tablish more vocational centresto reduce unemployment.

Afolabi made the call at the

except where he is NOT em-ployed on full-time basis, en-gage or participate in the man-agement or running of any pri-vate business, profession ortrade, but nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a pub-lic officer from engaging infarming.”

Mr Alade Lawal, GeneralSecretary, Association of SeniorCivil Servants of Nigeria(ASCSN), said that it wasagainst the law for any publicservant to be engaged in privatepractice to the detriment of theservices they were employed.

Lawal said that it was, how-ever, not logical to state thatsuch public servants could alsobe engaged in farming.

“Whether in a small or bigscale, farming is farming and itcan be for commercial purpose.

“Since the kind of farming a

IBADAN -The Oyo StateMinistry of Education is tohost the 2013 edition of the Spe-cial Students Arts and CraftCompetition in secondaryschools.

Mrs. Busola Adetunji, the In-formation Officer in the OyoState Ministry of Education,said this on Wednesday inIbadan while speaking withnewsmen in Ibadan.

‘‘The competition is to show-case the talents and naturalendowments of physically

first International Conference ofVocational Skills Acquisition,Technical Education and Entre-preneurship Study Centre ofThe Polytechnic, Ibadan.

He was represented by AlhajiAlli Oyedeji, a member of the

governing council.Afolabi said, “in Nigeria to-

day, the growing problem ofunemployment is responsible

for increased poverty and socialvices in the land.

He said unemployment hadcontributed largely to the wors-ening problem of poverty amongthe populace.

This, he said, leads to frus-tration and disillusionmentwhich may result in crime ordrug abuse in a futile attemptto escape from and forget thepains and humiliation of pov-erty.

“Unemployment has reachedan alarming stage as millions ofschool leavers and young gradu-ates of tertiary institutions roamthe streets in search of paidemployment,” he said.

He said as a result, able bod-ied and qualified persons whowere unemployed would be per-petually dependent on parents,friends and siblings.

The Rector of the Polytechnic,

Mr Felix Adeniran, said povertyhad become a global phenom-enon.

Adeniran attributed the prob-lem to non-possession of voca-tional skills and urbanisationresulting from migration of un-skilled migrants from the ruralareas to urban centres.

Prof. Moses Ilori, an entrepre-neur, delivered a lecture en-titled: “Vocational Skills Acqui-sition, Technical Education andEntrepreneurship for PovertyAlleviation and SustainableDevelopment’’.

Ilori said technical and voca-tional education prepared thetrainees for economic indepen-dence.

The NUT President, Mr.Michael Alogba-Olukoya, madethis known in an interview inLagos.

Alogba-Olukoya said thatCross River, Ebonyi, Borno andNiger state governments hadagreed to meet the teachers’demands.

He said that the NUT hadcalled off strike in those statesbut would continue the actionin the remaining states untilthey complied.

He listed the remaining statesas Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, Kogi,Zamfara, Sokoto and Benue.

Reports say that the NUTbegan the strike on June 1 inthe 11 states.

TSS, also known as Teachers’Peculiar Allowance, is a 27.5per cent increase in teachers’salaries.

The Governors’ Forum agreedwith the NUT in August, 2008to implement the TSS as fromJanuary, 2009.

The NUT president urged thestates, which had yet to meet theteachers’ demands, to do so ur-gently to restore normalcy.

LAGOS - Some labour lead-ers and public servants havecalled on the Federal Govern-ment to be consistent with thelaw that prevented public offic-ers from engaging in privatepractice.

They made the call in sepa-rate interviews with newsmenin Lagos.

Reports say that a circulardated June 10 entitled, “Codeof Conduct for Public Officers“from the office of the Head ofthe Civil Service of the Federa-tion, Alhaji Buka Aji, was sentto all Ministries, Departmentand Agencies (MDAs) of thegovernment.

It would also be recalled thatPart 5th Schedule, Section of2(b) of the 1999 constitutionreads: “without prejudice to thegenerality of the foregoing para-graph, a public officer shall not,

public servant should be en-gaged in is not stated, the pub-lic servant can be involved incommercial farming to the det-riment of the job, “ he said.

The ASCSN’s scribe said thatpublic servants go into private

business to augment their poorpay, but called on the govern-ment to look into the section ofthe constitution and makeproper clarification.

A competent source from the

Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), who refused to bequoted, said that the directivewas meant to discourage somepublic workers from using offi-cial period to run their privatebusinesses.

challenged students,’’ she said.Reports say that the competi-

tion will involve special schoolsin all the eight educationalzones in Oyo state.

Among the zones are IbadanCity, Ibadan Less City, Ibarapa,Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke Ogun Iand II.

Adetunji said that some of theworks of arts that would be ondisplay at the event includebaskets, raffia bags, shoes, soapand pomade.

state Agriculture DevelopmentProject (ADP), in an interviewwith newsmen in Akure.

Olabode said that the amountwas in addition to funds pro-vided by the African Develop-ment Bank (ADB) and the Fed-

eral Government.He also said nine locations

were selected in the state wheremoney was advanced to allevi-ate poverty among farmers.

“By the time it started, wehad less than five million nairaper location; right now we havean average of N30 million perlocation.

L-R: General Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku andformer Governor of Abia State, Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu during the Save Nigeria Group’s June 12 Democracy Audit 2013 inLagos recently.

Front Row: L-R:Afenifere Chieftain,Chief Ayo Adebanjo;

representative of AkwaIbom Governor, Mr.

Umanan Anieka,Speaker, Lagos House ofAssembly, Mr. AdeyemiIkuforiji; Olalekan, the

eldest son of AlhajaKudirat Abiola, HumanRight Activist, Comrade

Olawale Okunniyi,President, MKO Abiola

Youth and WomenForum, Alhaja AminatIrawo and other digni-taries laying wreath atthe grave side of ChiefMKO Abiola in Lagos on

Wednesday.

7 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

NorthAfrica Has Lowest Secondary School

Enrolment - Minister

Police Arrest Fulani

Herdsmen

Wamakko Vows To

Remain In PDP

NGO

Trains 460

Health

Volunteers

SOKOTO - Governor.Aliyu Wamakko of SokotoState says that he and histeeming supporters willremain in the ruling Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP).

Wamakko made thedeclaration when his teemingsupporters thronged theSultan Abubakar IIIInternational Airport andGovernment House, Sokototo welcome him from hisNetherlands’ trip onWednesday.

Reports say that the eventwas organised sequel to therecent suspension ofWamakko by the NationalWorking Committee of thePDP.

He accused, AlhajiBamanga Tukur, PDPNational Chairman, of beingincompetent as well asrunning the party as a privateenterprise.

He stressed the need forinternal democracy in theparty ahead of the 2015general elections, adding “thepeople of the state are notfighting PDP but injustice andunfairness’’.

According to him, the timeof imposition of candidates inthe PDP is over if we want tobe true and responsibledemocrats in tune with globaltrends.

The governor recalled thatthe party had no singleelected representative at alllevels in the state when hetook over its affairs in 2007.

“But during the 2011elections, PDP won all theelective positions fromcouncillors to the governorand all the state and nationalassembly members.

“I have also being a loyaland proud member of theparty and I have beinghelping in ensuring its growthand unity both here in thestate and at the nationallevel,’’ he added.

Wamakko said that the PDP

members in the state could notbe intimidated or harassed.

The Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Alhaji AminuTambuwal, restated the loyaltyof all the National Assemblymembers from the state inWamakko and the PDP.

Tambuwal said that the PDPunder the leadership ofWamakko in the stateremained a united politicalfamily.

“So the purportedsuspension is of no effect to usand there is no retreat orsurrender. Wamakko willcontinue to be our leader evenafter he finished his term as agovernor,’’ he said.

ZARIA (KADUNA)- TheMinister of Education, Prof.Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, said onWednesday that Africa hasthe world’s lowest secondaryschool enrolment rate.

Rufa’i said this at the“Multicultural AfricanConference, 2013”, organisedby the Faculty of Education,Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria.

Represented by Prof.Andrew Ekoji, a visitingProfessor, NationalUniversities Commission,Rufa’i spoke on “ResourceMobilisation, Managementfor Access and Quality

Education in Africa’’.Quoting from a report of the

Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development(OECD), she said only 28 percent of the youths in thecontinent were enrolled intosecondary school.

According to her, about 90million teenagers are leftstruggling for employment inlow-paid informal sector jobs.

She, however, said thatprimary school enrolment hadincreased from 58 per cent to76 per cent, while gender gaps

were narrowing and morekids were making it throughto secondary school.

Rufa’i said that 10 yearsago, countries such asEthiopia, Kenya, Tanzania,Zambia, Mozambique andSenegal were slippingbackwards on enrolment.

She urged the governmentacross the continent to

extend opportunities to themost marginalised children,ensure equality in access toeducation, resolve conflict involatile regions and ensuregender equality, amongothers.

Rufa’i said progress towardUniversal Basic Educationhad remained a criticalchallenge, saying: “instead

of hitting the MDG target by2015, the out-of-schoolchildren could rise by twomillion’’.

The Vice Chancellor of theUniversity, Prof. AbdullahiMustapha, described thelecture as timely, and urgedthe participants to availthemselves of the uniqueopportunity and acquire moreknowledge.

Mustapha commended theefforts of the faculty, whichhe said, culminated into thesuccess of the lecture.

Earlier, the Dean of theFaculty, Prof. TijjaniAbubakar, had said that theessence of the lecture was toproffer solution to pooreducational standard not onlyin Nigeria but in African sub-region.

MAKURDI - The policein Okpokwu LocalGovernment Area of Benuehad arrested two Fulaniherdsmen who allegedlyattacked Ichamacommunity on Mondaynight.

Reports say that thegunmen killed one personand stole 43 cowsbelonging to BishopSolomon Apochi.

The Police PublicRelations Officer (PPRO),DSP Daniel Ezeala, madethe disclosure to newsmenin Makurdi on Wednesday.

Ezeala said that thesuspects were apprehendedby security agents whileattempting to escape to aneighbouring state.

The Chairman, OkpokwuLocal Government Area,Mrs. Juliana Obeta, alsoconfirmed the arrest of thetwo men.

Obeta told newsmen thatthey were apprehended nearEnugu State.

She said that all thecows stolen by them hadbeen recovered andreturned to the bishop andcommended the police fortheir prompt response.

BAUCHI -A Bauchi-basedN o n - G o v e r n m e n t a lOrganisation, RahamaWomen DevelopmentInitiative, has trained 460volunteers on reproductivehealth in 46 wards of Alkaleri,Kirfi and Itas Gadau LocalGovernment Areas of BauchiState

The organisationProgramme Manager, HajiaHadiza Musa, made thisknown in an interview withnewsmen in Bauchi onWednesday.

Musa said that the trainingwould prepare the volunteerson how to detect symptoms ofmalaria and other diseasesaffecting children andpregnant women.

She said that the volunteerswould also be expected toembark on house-to-housesensitisation campaign toenable pregnant women knowthe importance of attendingante-natal and post-natal clinicas well as giving birth inhospitals.

Musa said that thevolunteers would alsoenlighten women in theirlocalities on the importance ofimmunisation and childspacing, among otherreproductive health issues.

The chairman alsocommended the youths inthe area for assisting thesecurity operatives tosearch for the fleeingherdsmen.

“The joint efforts of boththe security operatives andour youths who braved theodds and went into thebush in search of theattackers helped inapprehending theherdsmen and all the cowsthey stole,” Obeta said.

L-R: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, Secretary to the State Govern-ment, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, Deputy Chairman, ACN, Lagos State, Mr. SariyuSunmola and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, at a lecture to mark 20th Anniversary ofJune 12 in Lagos recently.

Pro-Democracy groups at a lecture to mark 20th Anniversary of June 12 in Lagos recently.

8 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

National Flag: NOA BeginsSensitization Campaign

Imo To Engage 15,000Youths

Across The NationSalaries Slash

Don Warns OfIndustrial

Unrest

CPC Inaugurates Merger C’tee

OWERRI - GovernorRochas Okorocha of ImoState has said that thestate government wouldemploy 15,000 youthswithin four months.

Okorocha, whoannounced this at ameeting with traditionalrulers and somestakeholders, said theproposed employmentwas under the “YouthMust Work” programmeof his administration.

The governor said8,000 of the beneficiarieswould be teachers whilethe rest would bedeployed to other sectors.

He said the aim was toengage the unemployedgraduates in the state insomething worthwhile.

“Each of them will bepaid N20,000 monthly; itis not that we do not haveteachers but we want tomake sure that our youthsare not idle.

“Every graduate in Imomust go through the``Youth Must Work’’programme before anystate work will be givento him or her.

“Each of them mustcome with letters of

identification from his orher traditional ruler,” hesaid.

Okorocha warned thetraditional rulers againstany fraudulent practice inthe course of identifyingtheir subjects that wouldbenefit from the specialscheme.

“No Eze orGovernment LiaisonOfficer should collectmoney in any way to signany kind of form for thewould-be beneficiaries.

“Every form from thegovernment is free, andany GLO foundcollecting money ormisbehaving is gone,” headded.

The acting ViceChancellor, Imo StateUniversity (IMSU),Owerri, Prof.Ukachukwu Awuzie,commended the governorfor the initiative.

Awuzie said theproposed employmentwould boost the freeeducation programme ofthe administration.

“There are four newstructures in IMSUTeaching Hospital and noImo child has been sentout of school because ofschool fees.

“This has neverhappened in Imo since1992,” he said.

PORT HARCOURT - DrFelix Igwe, a universitylecturer and socialcommentator, has warned thatthe plan by the Riversgovernment to slash thesalaries of workers of itstertiary institutions couldcause industrial unrest in thestate.

Igwe, who is the branchchairman of the AcademicStaff Union of Universities(ASUU) in the Rivers StateUniversity of Science andTechnology (RSUST), gavethe warning in an interviewwith newsmen in PortHarcourt.

He said that the stategovernment was yet to fullyimplement the FGN-ASUUagreement of 2009 and assuch, cutting workers’ salarieswould negatively affect thestandard of education in thestate.

“There was actually ameeting between Registrars,Bursars of tertiary institutions(in the state) and theCommissioner for Financewith the Head of Civil Serviceand they said that the salariesof lecturers and workers intertiary institutions in Riversstate would be scaled down.

“There were memos to thateffect and so the alarm raisedby workers about the slash isnot imagination; it is real andcommunicated by the rightofficer involved in salarypreparation.

“If salary is slashed; it isgoing to affect the productivityof staffs and will affectnegatively the educationalstandard in the tertiaryinstitutions in the state.

“When it has to do withsalary; unions do not joke withthat and so, workers will beunited in one-force in ensuringthat their salaries are nottouched.

“If all the avenues ofremedying the situation fails;then the last option will be anindustrial action and so,government should not thinkabout slashing workers’salaries at this time.”

Igwe claimed that the tenmonths ASUU strike inRSUST had negativelyaffected academic activities inthe university.

It could be recalled that thestate Commissioner forInformation andCommunication, Mrs. IbimSemenatari, had denied reportsthat the state governmentplanned to cut salaries oftertiary workers in the state.

She said that instead,government was carrying outan audit of its workers in linewith a directive by GovernorChibuike Amaechi to ascertainthe number of workers in thestate civil service.

BAUCHI - The NationalOrientation Agency (NOA)in Bauchi has commencedsensitisation campaign on theproper use of Nigeria’sNational Flag.

Hajiya Jummai Bello, theagency’s Director in the state,told newsmen in Bauchi.

She said that thesensitisation exercise becamenecessary to awaken thepeople of the state on thesymbolic importance of theflag.

“The flag, along with othernational symbols, is ournational pride which shouldbe treated with utmost senseof patriotism and dignity.

“We have noticed thatsome government and privateestablishments fly tatteredflags. The colour of the flagsflown is often either dark orlight green instead of emeraldgreen.

“There is therefore theneed to re-awaken theconsciousness of the people,

particularly governmentestablishments and privateorganisations,” she noted.

The director said that sincethe commencement of thecampaign, she had personallysewn and distributed nofewer than 30 flags toschools, unions andgovernment organisations inthe state where abuse of theflag was noted.

“I have personallyproduced the standard flagsand anywhere we noticeabuse of the flag, we givethem the correct one andinsist on replacement.

“That helps a lot ineducating people to have anidea of how the correct flagshould look like,” she stated.

According to her, NOAheadquarters intends toproduce the flags en-massefor distribution to those inneed either at subsidised rateor free of charge.

Bello also noted that someof the Nigerian Coat of Arms

KADUNA - The Congressfor Progressive Change(CPC) has formed a 10-mancommittee to spearhead themerger arrangements withother political parties inKaduna State.

Sen. Sani Sale, the senatorrepresenting Kaduna Central,who announced this at a pressconference on Wednesday inKaduna said that, thecommittee was approved bythe party’s Elders Committeeon Sunday.

He said that the committeewas mandated to work“towards a successful mergerin the state and remains theonly recognised and legalbody of the CPC to act, relate

and liaise with parties whilethe merger issue progresses”.

“By this, therefore, all othercommittees in whatever guiseor by whichever name withinthe CPC or in conjunctionwith other merging parties atstate, local government orward level, cease to exist, andshould stop any meeting orgathering in the name ofmerger process.”

“This decision wasnecessary in order to ensuresmooth transition from CPCto APC without rancour anddivision within the ranks, soit is expected that greatersense of commitment andmaturity will be exhibited byour members on this matter,”

he said.Reports say that the

committee is chaired by Sale,while Dr Shehu Adamuwould serve as Secretary.

The eight other membersare: Alhaji Garba Datti-Ahmed, Alhaji MuhammadAli, Malam SamailaSuleiman, Ahmadu Coca-Cola, Jafaru Abbas, JokhtanSuleiman, Garba Attahiru andBulus Sahuta.

Sale assured party membersthat the All ProgressiveCongress (APC) would beregistered by the middle ofJuly, and urged them toremain steadfast to the causeof change and thetransformation of the country.

being displayed in the statewere wearing the wrongcolours, adding that the next

stage of the enlightenmentcampaign would, however,address the problem.

The Ejire Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) during its flag-off as the fourth comprehensive24-hour flagship Primary Health Care Centre at Itire-Ikate Local Council DevelopmentArea, Surulere, Lagos recently.

L-R: Director-General, Special Duties, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. GeorgeOkere, Director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu and Director-General, Consumer ProtectionCouncil (CPC), Mrs. Dupe Atoki, during the visit of the CPC Director-General to SON inAbuja recently.

9 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Abuja

Sukur, Osun-Osogbo World Heritage Sites

Commission Lists Gains

Audit Query: Reps Decry MDGs Responses

Writ Of Summons: Maina

Ordered To File Complaint Pass PIB,

CPC UrgesNASS

ABUJA - The NationalCommission for Museum andMonument (NCMM) has saidthat listing of Sukur and OsunOsogbo on the world heritagelist is a major boost in thecountry’s tourism industry.

Malam Abdallah Usman,Director-General, NCMM, saidthis in an interview withnewsmen in Abuja.

He said that the listing of thetwo heritage sites was aninternational window to theworld which had broughtfortune to the country.

He said that the two sites onthe world heritage had createdjob opportunities for all cadresof people in the community

Usman said that the volume oftourists visiting the sites hadtranslated to economic boom interms of local revenuegeneration and foreign exchangefor the country.

“Between 2001 and 2004,about 30,000 tourists attendedthe annual Osun Osogbofestival.

“In 2005 alone, the figure wasabout 5,000 and is continuallyon the increase, because of itslisting on world heritage site,”he said.

According to the D-G, thevolume of local trade andcommercial ventures inOshogbo and Osun increasedtremendously, especially in hotel

accommodation, transportation,eateries, craft and culturalentrepreneurs.

“The world heritage sites areeasily the most visited sites inthe world because of their globalimportance. Tourists alwaysmake it a point of duty to visitworld heritage sites in anycountry.”

Usman listed other gains ofheritage sites to include veritabletools for poverty eradication,wealth creation and distribution,acceleration of communitydevelopment.

Mallam Inuwa Babantata, theCurator of Sukur World HeritageSite, Yola, told newsmen that the

number of touristspatronising the site wasbecoming too large tomanage.

According to him, touristscome from different parts ofthe world to visit Sukurbecause of the level ofdevelopment of the site.

He said that due to the highpatronage recorded daily, ithad no option than to increasethe number of hours itrendered services to tourists.

The curator said thatforeigners from countriessuch as Canada and Germanyvisited Sukur and sometimesspent close to two months inthe museum.

ABUJA - The NationalIndustrial Court hasordered the counsel toAbdulrasheed Maina,former Chairman ofPension Reform TaskTeam, to file his complaintby writ of summons.

He was also ordered to servethe defendants within 14 daysto enable them to file theirdefence.

The court also ordered thedefendants to file theirstatement of defence andcounter claims within 14 daysupon receipt of service from theclaimant.

The President of the court,Justice Babatunde Adejumo,gave the order on Wednesday inAbuja while ruling on whetherthe case was properly institutedor not.

“I am in agreement with thesubmissions of the learnedcounsel for the defendant that acase of dismissal cannot becommenced through originatingsummons, but through writ byway of complaint.

“I hereby order the claimantto file his complaint and servethe defendants within 14 daysfrom today.

“The defendants are orderedto file their reply within 14 daysupon receipt of the service fromthe claimant,” he added.

It would be called that Mainahad sued the Head of Service ofthe Federation and six others,for alleged unlawful dismissalas a Deputy Director in the civilservice.

Maina, who instituted theaction through his counsel viaoriginating summon, is prayingthe court to quash his dismissalfrom service.

He is also praying the court toorder the defendants to reinstatehim as Chairman, Customs,Immigration and Prison PensionOffice (CIPPO) and DeputyDirector (Admin), Federal CivilService.

The claimant is also seekingan order of the court to directthe defendants to pay him N2billion damages and N500million compensation.

Maina was the Chairman,CIPPO and Pension ReformTask Team before his dismissal.

Hearing in the case wasadjourned to July 23.

ABUJA - The House ofRepresentatives Committeeon Public Accounts hasdecried the low level ofresponses by MinistriesDepartments and Agencies( MDAs) to queries from theAuditor-General of theFederation(AGF).

Its Chairman, Rep.Solomon Adeola ( ACN-Lagos), made this known inan interview with newsmenin Abuja.

“As for the level ofcompliance so far recordedin terms of answeringqueries given out by theoffice of the AGF to theMDAs, it is relatively low,’’he said.

He said that between theyears 2000 to date, it hadbeen the same line anddesign of queries.

Adeola said the waygovernment business wasbeing carried out with

impunity and withoutrecourse to laid down rulesand regulations was wrong.

He emphasised thecommittee’s commitment toensure that all governmentagencies complied with the

laid down rules.“That is why as a

committee, we are comingso hard on all the MDAs ofthe Federal Government,”he said.

He said that until the

office of the AGF wasgiven financialautonomy, the trendwould continue.

The legislator said thatthe National Assemblywould ensure that theAGF had necessarypowers to functioneffectively without theinfluence of the executivearm of government.

He said that a bill toempower the AGF toaudit corporations,boards and agencies wasbefore the NationalAssembly.

Adeola said that if the billwas passed into law by theNational Assembly, it wouldcheck corruption and enhancetransparency in the business ofgovernance.

He described the non-compliance of MDAs toAGF’s queries as afundamental problem in thecountry which needed to betackled for better results.

The legislator said that it wasnecessary for the committee toreview the auditing processbefore any sanction could betaken against defaultingMDAs.

ABUJA - The Congress forProgressive Change (CPC)has in Abuja advised theNational Assembly to passthe Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB) into law.

The Deputy NationalChairman of CPC, MrMustapher Saliu, toldnewsmen that its passagewould create an enablingenvironment for the sector.

According to him, CPC isready to advocate and supportany measure that can bringpositive change to the entirecountry.

In a related development,Saliu commended the AllProgressives Change (APC)Merger Committee and theleadership of the mergingparties for their efforts.

He said it was by thecombined efforts of thestakeholders that made APCto satisfy the necessaryconditions to apply forregistration as a politicalparty.

Saliu said that APC wasready to address Nigeria’sproblems, to give necessaryfillip to economic andpolitical development of thecountry, if eventuallyregistered to contest in the2015 elections.

He said that APC wouldoffer better opportunities toNigeria and alternative toinsecurity and other corruptpractices.

Saliu expressed optimismthat Nigeria would be greaterif all the citizens coulddisplay discipline andtransparency in all the sectorsof national economy.

Gov Peter Obi of Anambra, laying foundation for the construction of Medical Hostel forstudents of Anambra State University in Awka on Wednesday

Sympathisers at the site of a three-storey building that collapsed on Tuesday as survivors pack their recoveredbelongings in Lagos on Wednesday

1 0 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Business + Economy

PHCN To Give Out Free Pre-Paid Metres

12 Ships To Discharge PetroleumProducts

Port Operation: Coy May HaltLogistics Support

CBN MayLicence

MoreBanks

Customs CollectN5.5bn Revenue

IKEJA - The Ikeja Electric-ity Distribution Company hasannounced free pre-paidmetres for consumers who hadsettled their outstanding bills.

The CEO of the company,Mr. Chris Akamnonu, toldnewsmen in Ikeja that the of-fer was part of strategies toencourage electricity consum-ers to settle their bills.

bulk salt, container, bulk wheat,new vehicles, crude oil and bulksugar.

It said that 91 ships, carry-ing different cargoes, would sailinto the ports from June 12 toJune 29.

The document indicatedthat 11 of the ships would arrivewith petroleum products, while21 others would sail in with newand used vehicles.

LAGOS - The Nigeria Cus-toms Service (NCS), said thatit collected N5.5 billion revenuein May 2013 from the Port andTerminal Multi Service Ltd.(PTML) Command atGRILMADI, Apapa, Lagos.

Mr. Steve Okohma, the Pub-lic Relations Officer (PRO) ofthe command, told newsmen inLagos that the command col-lected N6.4 billion in the cor-responding period in 2012.

Okohma attributed the short-fall in the periods to the non-operation of the MAERSK LineShipping Company.

“So many things could be at-tributed to this; number one wehad two major groups here. Wehad MAERSK Line andGRILMADI Group.

“MAERSK Line was bringingtheir containers to us but sometwo months back they pulled outof this place for reason we can-not actually tell.

“All efforts were made by the

LAGOS - The managementof APM Terminals Apapa Lim-ited has said that the companymight likely halt the support itwas providing to those statuto-rily responsible for scanning

LAGOS - The Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN) said it wouldcontinue to grant operating li-cence to more banks.

Mr Okoroafor Ugochukwu,the CBN Head of CorporateCommunications, made thisknown in an interview withnewsmen in Lagos.

Ugochukwu said that CBNhad granted licence to twomerchant banks, Rand Mer-chant Bank and First SecurityDiscount House, to start opera-tion.

“These banks had been suc-cessfully processed and foundto qualify for licence,“ he said.

The apex bank spokesmansaid that more banks would begranted licence once they metthe CBN requirements.

According to him, the mini-mum capital base of merchantbank is N15 billion.

“As regard establishment ofbanks in the rural areas, theapex bank will provide condu-cive environment for banks tooperate, “ Ugochukwu said.

He, however, said that themarket forces of demand andsupply would determine theiroperation in rural areas.

Ugochukwu said that CBNwould allow market forces todetermine price and drive acompetitive banking environ-ment.

CAC (Customs Area Controller)to find out the reason behind it.The MD (of MAERSK) wasable to tell us that they ownedbigger ships and those shipscannot berth here because of thehandling equipment.

“And that most of the time,they will be doing trans-ship-ment for the ones that will becoming here and cost wise, isnot profitable to them.“

He said that the clearing pe-riod at PTML had improved tre-mendously, adding that it took12 hours to clear vehicles atPTML command.

Okohma said that 48 cargoclearances were still applicableat PTML, adding that it was thereason the harbor was referredto as a model port.

Reports say that a singlephase metre costs N25, 000,while a three-phase metrecosts N50, 000, according tothe Nigerian Electricity Regu-latory Commission.

“We have been giving outfree pre-paid metres to our cus-tomers who had paid their out-standing bills to date.

“We have also told our cus-

tomers that they will get freemetres if they settle their alltheir outstanding bills and thisis ongoing,’’ he said.

Akamnonu expressed thehope that the strategy wouldencourage other debtor-cus-tomers to follow suit.

He disclosed that more than134,000 pre-paid metres hadbeen installed in houses in the

zone.Akamnonu added: “We are

willing to install a metre forany willing customer who haspaid up to date; such a cus-tomer should come up with hisreceipt.

“We will not allow debtorsto benefit from the services ofPHCN if they continue to ig-nore the appeals to settledebts.”

He said prompt payment ofelectricity bills would enablethe company to meet the tar-get of providing stable and ef-ficient power in the zone.

Akamnonu promised thatprompt attention would begiven to customers’ complaintsby officials of the company.

He, however, warned mem-bers of the public againstpatronising touts in their des-perate bids to get pre-paidmetres.

“I urge our customers not topatronise touts; they shouldreport any PHCN staff whoattempts to extort money ordemand any form of gratifica-tion from them.’’LAGOS - Twelve ships are

waiting to discharge petroleumproducts at the various oil ter-minals within the Lagos ports,the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has said.

The Shipping Position, adaily publication of NPA issuedin Lagos, indicated that nine ofthe twelve ships would dis-charge petrol, while three woulddischarge kerosene.

According to the document,six other ships will discharge

Reports say that other shipswould arrive with containers,bulk salt, general cargoes, bulksugar, fresh fish, bulk fertiliser,bulk wheat, steel product, bulk,crude oil, maize, empty contain-ers, bulk malt and bulk gypsum.

Reports also say that 20ships are currently dischargingcontainers, bulk urea fertiliser,general cargo, bulk wheat, freshfish, bulk sugar, crude oil andpetroleum products.

containers at the Apapa Port.Mr. Bolaji Akinola, Media

Adviser to APM TerminalsApapa, said this in a pressstatement made available tonewsmen in Lagos.

“ APM Terminals is not re-sponsible for the scanning ofcontainers at Apapa port; be-sides, scanning at the Apapaport is the responsibility ofCotecna and the Nigeria Cus-toms Service.

“ We are not the cause of thedelay associated with the scan-ning of containers there.

“We only intervened by tak-ing over the logistics to bringabout efficiency in the system.”Akinola said.

He said that the company wasnot mandated by law to scan orbe operating in the scanningbusiness.

“Since our intervention toassist in providing logisticssupport to the port users in get-ting their containers scanned,the long waiting time for truckshave been eliminated,“ he said.

L-R: Wakilin Zazzau, Alhaji Umaru Mijinyawa; Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State and Chairman, Igabi LocalGovernment Area, Alhaji Abdullahi Kwarau, at the launching and distribution of Igabi Local Government Sure-Pmaterials to the beneficiaries in Kaduna recently.

Vehicles and other materials to be distributed at the launching and distribution of Igabi Local Government Sure-Pmaterials to the beneficiaries in Kaduna recently.

1 1 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY(13/06/13)

Stocks Open Close Change Deals Units Value

7UP 52.5 53 0.5 23 419,074 22,199,547.10

ABBEYBDS 1.5 1.5 0 1 100 150

ABCTRANS 1.03 0.94 -0.09 9 735,466 703,148.04

ACADEMY 2.32 2.43 0.11 17 336,032 811,978.60

ACCESS 11.59 10.98 -0.61 347 28,762,467 316,409,543.42

AFRIPRUD 2 1.8 -0.2 53 1,994,613 3,590,305.00

AGLEVENT 1.72 1.72 0 19 180,628 307,342.96

AIICO 1.06 0.96 -0.1 80 4,540,898 4,400,576.32

AIRSERVICE 4.9 4.9 0 12 127,077 603,108.30

ALEX 10.55 10.55 0 2 3,500 33,250.00

ASHAKACEM 28.5 27 -1.5 81 1,877,969 49,740,264.93

ASOSAVINGS 0.5 0.5 0 2 800 400

BECOPETRO 0.5 0.5 0 5 196,100 98,050.00

BERGER 11.38 11.38 0 13 36,143 386,806.75

BETAGLAS 10 10 0 10 341,961 3,420,705.69

BOCGAS 7.5 7.5 0 1 1,800 14,850.00

CADBURY 60 55 -5 135 1,585,998 87,754,732.68

CAP 59.89 59.89 0 15 83,345 4,498,585.11

CAPOIL 0.5 0.5 0 1 2,500 1,250.00

CCNN 12.8 11.52 -1.28 38 624,590 7,269,487.69

CHAMPION 5.32 5.32 0 5 9,050 47,142.50

CILEASING 0.5 0.5 0 17 1,078,153 543,576.50

CONOIL 24 24 0 21 32,714 814,175.60

CONTINSURE 1.19 1.19 0 5 475,120 554,901.36

CORNERST 0.5 0.5 0 12 1,237,409 618,707.50

COSTAIN 1.69 1.63 -0.06 62 2,745,490 4,265,944.72

COURTVILLE 0.88 0.81 -0.07 47 3,683,163 2,999,256.79

CUSTODYINS 1.75 1.7 -0.05 20 21,437,200 36,445,059.77

CUTIX 2.28 2.06 -0.22 5 200,500 420,735.00

DAARCOMM 0.5 0.5 0 5 50,000 25,000.00

DANGCEM 199 199 0 142 1,028,086 188,444,276.24

DANGFLOUR 10.68 9.64 -1.04 131 2,661,171 25,643,858.41

DANGSUGAR 12.85 11.57 -1.28 190 21,365,369 253,373,608.93

DIAMONDBNK 6.7 6.45 -0.25 121 25,918,695 167,587,441.25

DNMEYER 1.6 1.6 0 8 36,012 54,266.00

DUNLOP 0.5 0.5 0 1 100,000 50,000.00

ETERNA 3.7 3.33 -0.37 33 625,096 2,131,362.46

ETI 16 14.8 -1.2 122 11,611,191 175,704,958.58

EVANSMED 3.5 3.16 -0.34 24 1,201,425 3,862,130.30

FBNH 18.55 17.94 -0.61 657 23,148,129 416,201,931.23

FCMB 5 4.9 -0.1 88 10,201,735 49,946,505.70

FIDELITYBK 3.2 3.1 -0.1 195 57,441,758 176,344,892.77

FIDSON 2.26 2.04 -0.22 67 2,611,823 5,387,116.22

FLOURMILL 109.24 104 -5.24 118 736,018 73,158,648.32

FO 17.01 17.01 0 22 70,581 1,254,137.01

FTNCOCOA 0.5 0.5 0 3 98,500 49,250.00

GLAXOSMITH 68 67.98 -0.02 28 410,261 26,715,455.02

GNI 0.55 0.55 0 1 1,000 580

GUARANTY 27.4 25.63 -1.77 492 22,316,447 574,715,838.29

GUINNESS 280 270 -10 44 1,642,222 450,526,129.87

HMARKINS 0.5 0.5 0 2 30,000 15,000.00

HONYFLOUR 3.74 3.39 -0.35 124 5,399,332 18,290,365.86

IHS 2 2 0 2 5,000 9,110.00

IKEJAHOTEL 0.83 0.9 0.07 8 241,000 211,890.00

INTBREW 26.99 26 -0.99 58 847,980 21,436,993.80

IPWA 0.66 0.68 0.02 8 160,000 108,110.00

JAPAULOIL 0.55 0.54 -0.01 67 6,059,125 3,229,609.08

JBERGER 60.5 60.5 0 26 175,504 9,675,284.34

JOSBREW 1.25 1.25 0 6 23,000 27,110.00

JULI 2.14 2.14 0 1 500 965

LASACO 0.5 0.5 0 1 3,500 1,750.00

LEARNAFRCA 1.96 1.77 -0.19 13 814,606 1,446,802.62

LINKASSURE 0.5 0.5 0 1 200,000 100,000.00

LIVESTOCK 6.47 5.83 -0.64 97 3,417,288 19,923,289.04

MANDRID 5.94 5.94 0 1 1,595 9,474.30

MANSARD 2.25 2.18 -0.07 21 574,200 1,259,584.00

MAYBAKER 3.38 3.05 -0.33 55 669,241 2,065,918.88

TOP 10 GAINERS TOP 10 GAINERSStock Close Loss

NESTLE 962.95 -37.05NB 157.5 -12.5GUINNESS 270 -10WAPCO 88.2 -9.8TOTAL 160.62 -9.38PZ 48.26 -5.36FLOURMILL 104 -5.24CADBURY 55 -5OKOMUOIL 46.92 -3.08UACN 58.01 -2.14

Stock Close Gain

MRS 17.8 1.1PRESCO 35 17UP 53 0.5PAINTCOM 1.84 0.15NEIMETH 1.76 0.11ACADEMY 2.43 0.11UPL 5.7 0.1REDSTAREX 5.1 0.09IKEJAHOTEL 0.9 0.07TRANSCORP 1.2 0.03

TOP 10 LOSERS

MBENEFIT 0.5 0.5 0 4 4,350 2,175.00

MCNICHOLS 1.92 1.8 -0.12 11 350,500 618,529.04

MOBIL 119 119 0 17 10,233 1,161,042.64

MORISON 2.01 2.01 0 2 50,000 110,500.00

MRS 16.7 17.8 1.1 17 118,758 2,127,307.22

MULTITREX 0.5 0.51 0.01 2 120,000 61,000.00

MULTIVERSE 0.5 0.5 0 5 240,000 120,000.00

NAHCO 7.87 7.7 -0.17 102 2,327,564 17,498,046.42

NASCON 14 12.6 -1.4 58 1,819,004 22,987,776.10

NB 170 157.5 -12.5 252 2,561,518 406,837,169.72

NCR 18.7 18.7 0 1 500 9,350.00

NEIMETH 1.65 1.76 0.11 92 6,104,455 10,933,512.25

NEM 0.88 0.8 -0.08 25 2,238,988 1,818,046.56

NESTLE 1000 962.95 -37.05 194 478,269 436,200,230.97

NIGERINS 0.5 0.5 0 5 108,100 54,050.00

NNFM 25.91 25.91 0 5 18,693 532,750.50

NPFMCRFBK 1.2 1.2 0 18 2,070,000 2,476,549.86

OANDO 13.95 13.01 -0.94 268 10,292,681 136,102,275.61

OKOMUOIL 50 46.92 -3.08 60 902,127 42,179,569.06

OMATEK 0.5 0.5 0 1 300 150

PAINTCOM 1.69 1.84 0.15 7 666,000 1,202,400.00

PHARMDEKO 2.07 2.07 0 2 4,000 7,480.00

PORTPAINT 3.88 3.6 -0.28 10 1,756,300 6,152,080.00

PREMBREW 0.68 0.68 0 1 10,000 7,000.00

PRESCO 34 35 1 121 2,972,463 100,545,644.77

PRESTIGE 0.59 0.61 0.02 5 137,200 79,792.00

PZ 53.62 48.26 -5.36 65 691,496 33,551,115.20

REDSTAREX 5.01 5.1 0.09 32 772,000 3,769,713.60

ROYALEX 0.66 0.65 -0.01 7 1,221,352 793,887.80

RTBRISCOE 1.8 1.62 -0.18 24 490,414 798,252.10

SCOA 5.42 5.42 0 1 500 2,440.00

SKYEBANK 4.99 4.65 -0.34 234 12,687,806 59,835,962.87

SKYESHELT 100 100 0 1 11 1,100.00

SOVRENINS 0.5 0.5 0 1 5,000 2,500.00

STACO 0.5 0.5 0 1 2,500 1,250.00

STANBIC 16.7 16 -0.7 37 675,709 10,815,232.93

STDINSURE 0.5 0.5 0 1 2,000 1,000.00

STERLNBANK 2.69 2.7 0.01 90 12,007,741 31,987,059.26

TANTALIZER 0.5 0.5 0 1 250 125

TOTAL 170 160.62 -9.38 29 152,956 24,791,877.07

TRANSCORP 1.17 1.2 0.03 175 27,944,414 33,427,545.70

TRANSEXPR 2.78 2.78 0 3 292 732.92

UAC-PROP 16 16 0 23 87,150 1,348,399.20

UACN 60.15 58.01 -2.14 104 3,122,331 183,110,100.50

UBA 9.45 8.99 -0.46 467 25,412,447 222,715,458.18

UBCAP 1.28 1.26 -0.02 90 4,310,517 5,437,830.17

UBN 14.36 13 -1.36 120 2,116,270 27,538,552.98

UHOMREIT 50 50 0 1 1,400 63,000.00

UNILEVER 65 63 -2 79 2,496,246 158,898,480.35

UNIONDAC 0.5 0.5 0 1 10,000 5,000.00

UNITYBNK 0.71 0.66 -0.05 80 10,628,850 7,202,904.00

UPL 5.6 5.7 0.1 10 177,695 975,351.40

UTC 0.77 0.7 -0.07 7 131,993 92,395.10

VITAFOAM 4.53 4.53 0 114 8,282,364 37,529,425.08

VONO 1.71 1.71 0 3 8,500 13,090.00

WAPCO 98 88.2 -9.8 96 1,307,682 117,470,847.91

WAPIC 0.97 0.99 0.02 13 266,700 261,790.00

WEMABANK 1.2 1.18 -0.02 51 1,692,490 2,016,034.57

ZENITHBANK 22.25 20.9 -1.35 397 20,894,512 436,242,802.28

1 2 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

THE Nigerian Education Bank Bill which haspassed second reading at the Federal Houseof Representatives, as explained by the ini-tiator, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila proposes toestablish the Nigerian Education Bank, withthe primary duty of granting interest-freeloans to poor students seeking higher edu-cation in Nigeria.

THE Bill seeks to make available to eachbenefiting student, a sum of five hundredthousand Naira (N500,000) repayable in twoyears after graduation. The repayment, ac-cording to the proponents would take theform of direct deduction of ten percentmonthly deductions at source from salariesof beneficiaries or from the profits in the caseof self employed graduates until the loan isliquidated. According to the provisions of theBill, “applicants must have secured admis-sion into any Nigerian Universities, Polytech-nics, Colleges of education or any vocationalschool established by the Federal Govern-ment or the Government of the States of theFederation.”

THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER commends theinitiators and promoters of the Bill, which weconsider progressive in a country wheremore than 70 percent of its population livebelow the I USD per day poverty line. Formost Nigerians who have had to go throughhell to obtain higher education, this is a wa-tershed Bill not only welcomed by the poor,but groups marginalised by society such asorphans, physically challenged personsamong others who do not have anywhere toturn to for higher education.

IT is not much of news that students of ter-tiary school-Universities, Polytechnics, Col-leges of Agriculture and Colleges of educa-

The Nigerian

Education

Bank Billtion and others have gone through untold dif-ficulties over the years to pass through suchinstitutions. We are glad that the Bill is cur-rently being considered by the lawmakers.

IT is equally heartwarming to note that, withthe proposed law, Nigeria is on the right trackto join the rest of the world in subsidizing edu-cation for the poor. It is important to note thatScandinavian countries such as Finland, Swe-den, Norway, and Denmark have developedsound qualitative education and almost tu-ition-free higher education from cradle tograve. In fact, in Denmark, the tuition is freeand, in fact, international students also enjoyfree tuition provided they could show evidenceof $6,000 feeding and upkeep fee per annum.

ALTHOUGH tuition in Australia is not free,there are a lot of grants, scholarships and bur-saries instituted for both the brilliant and poorstudents. These are best practices that this billseeks to emulate.

WE recognise that schooling anywhere in theworld is not easy and hardly cheap, it is againstthis backdrop that we welcome the move by

THE NIGERIAN the Federal House of Representatives to in-troduce a law that would take such a load offparents’ shoulders. We equally wish to callon the upper legislative chamber, the Senateof the Federal Republic of Nigeria to con1irthe Bill as soon as it is passed by the lowerhouse so that it can become a law in Nigeria.

OUR support for the bill notwithstanding,we are of the opinion that Section 22 of thebill must be re-couched to read that “benefi-ciaries should be made to pay back the loanas soon as they are employed”, not the twoyears contained in the bill, given the high rateof unemployment in the country.

IN our view, Sub-section 4 of the bill whichstipulates punishments for offenders of thelaw in a case of default also requires a re-view to avoid the culture of impunity amongyoung Nigerians who would take undue ad-vantage of the benefits derivable from the law.Two years imprisonment or an option of fineof N500,000 being the same amount benefitedby the beneficiary is not sufficient deterrence.We recommend five years imprisonment foroffenders or a fine of N700,000 instead.

WE believe the Bill also throws up the needfor government at all levels to take urgentsteps to improve the employment market inNigeria to absorb the army of unemployedpersons roaming the streets in search of jobs.Government should redouble efforts towardsguaranteeing constant electricity supply,potable water supply, roads, railway systemand other infrastructure needed to boost thenation’s industrialization, as a major way ofmaking the law work efficiently when it even-tually passed and assented to by the Presi-dent.

1 3 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Justice Is An All-Inclusive AndAll-Embracing Socio-Moral Virtue (2)

Voice of

IslamEvery Friday With

Mallam Ikponmwosa Abdulfattah EnabuleleChief Imam of Benin

Verily! Allah commands that you should render back the truststo those to whom they are due; and when you judged betweenpeople, judge with justice. How excellent is the teachingwhich He Allah gives you! Truly, Allah is Ever All-Hearing,All-Seeing (Qur’an 4:48)

Justice is one of those moral virtues for which every soci-ety and culture advocate, yet it is lacking in many societies.In this hadith, the Prophet has aptly promised those whodispense justice in all their dealings with their families andthose under their authority and are fair in all their decisionsthat they will be rewarded with paradise and will be on thronesof light near Allah. This is because justice at levels and inall its various forms is closeness to piety and righteousnessas Allah described it in a number of passages in the NobleQur’an:

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as wit-nesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to youmake you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just.That is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. For Allah is Well-Acquainted with all that you do. (Qur’an 5:8)

Justice is a spiritual, moral socio-economical, and politi-cal virtue. It is aptly described by Allah and His Messengeras a means to dealing fairly in all matters in society withoutallowing our souls to follow our vain desires and therebyveer away from fair dealing. Justice should be applied witheveryone, including one’s self, members of one’s family,neighbours, workmates, friends, and enemies. Because Al-lah is the wisest and most just in all His dealings with Hiscreation. He therefore described those who dispense justiceas his own witnesses who stand up by Him in all their fairdealings. That is why justice is not an easy affair except forthose who fear Allah and why its meritorious rewards areimmense. Allah, the Exalted, says:

Verily, Allah enjoins justice and ihsan (being patient inperforming your duties to Allah, totally for Allah’s sake andin accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet in a perfectmanner), and giving help to kith and kin (by giving them allthe rights that Allah has ordered you to give them, such aswealth, visiting, looking after them, and any other kind ofhelp they need) and forbids all evil deeds, and all that isprohibited by Islamic law, and all kinds of oppression. Headmonishes you, that you may take heed. (Qur’an 16:90)

Justice, as spoken of in the hadith under discussion and asimplied bny the meritorious rewards promised for those whodispense it, is an all-inclusive and all-embracing socio-moralvirtue.

On the social level, when we look at the tendencies aroundthe world: increasing crime rates, wars between nations, ter-rorist acts of extreme violence, insecurity, the biting povertyand malnourishment of human beings in many communi-ties, the suffering of ordinary people in every country in thecontemporary world, the global economic crisis facing manynations today that leads many societies to crime and vio-lence, misery, bitterness, and a lack of happiness, all areattributable to lack of justice.

The world today is full of all forms of oppression andinjustice, be it in the international arena where big and pow-erful nations coerce small and weak nations into politicaland economic subjugation and enslavement or on a nationallevel where corrupt and dictatorial governments constantlyviolate human rights in all areas of human life – political,economic, or otherwise. People blackmail or attack eachother’s character for political mileage, power, wealth, orinfluence. Indeed, one of the poisonous habits inherent inour contemporary society is injustice.

Business people oppress each other and as a consequencethey end up exploiting everyone. Most government in theworld today commit all kinds of injustices and oppressionagainst their citizens which translates to bad governanceand dictatorship.

Governments and government officials must dispense jus-tice by giving their citizens basic human rights. This in-cludes helping citizens acquire the basic necessities of life,including food, education, housing, medical care and so on,

in an equitable manner without discrimination. This is partof rendering back the trust and convent which they have takenfrom Allah and the people who elected them to positions ofpower and authority.

Married couples oppress each other in one way or an-other in the form of domestic abuse.

Labourers are oppressed at work, deprived of their duerights commensurate with their production output; we seestrikes and demonstrations at government and private insti-tutions and we hear trade unions crying foul.

Parents at home similarly oppress their children and thelist goes on and on. Little wonder then that there is no truepeace and happiness in the world today.

Almighty Allah says He has raised up the heaven andimposed the balance of justice so that you do not transgressin the balance. So, establish measuring the weight of allmatters in justice and do not make the balance deficient(Qur’an 55:8-9)

On a spiritual level, believers have to be just and fair withthemselves by not over tasking and burdening themselveswith respect to devotional acts of worship. That is why on anumber of occasions Allah’s Messenger forbade his Com-panions from overdoing acts of worship, which they wouldnot be able to continue with, and recommended that they befair and just to themselves with regard to devoting some oftheir energy and time to worshipping Allah.

The Prophet established a bond of brotherhood betweenSalman and Abu ad-Darda. Salman paid a visit to Abu ad-Darda and found Umm ad-Darda dressed in shabby clothesand asked her why she was in that state. She replied: Yourbrother, Abu ad-Darda is not interested in the luxuries of thisworld. In the meantime, Abu al-Darda came back and pre-pared a meal for Salman and said to him: Please eat for I amfasting. Salman said: I am not going to eat, unless you eat.So Abu ad-Darda ate. When it was night, Abu ad-Darda gotup for the night prayer. Salman said to him: Sheep. So heslept. Again Abu ad-Darda got up for the prayer, and Salmansaid to him: Sleep. When it was the last part of the night,Salman said to him: Get up now for the prayer. So both ofthem offered their prayes and Salman said to Abu ad-Darda:

“Verily! Allah commands that you should render backthe trusts to those to whom they are due; and when youjudged between people, judge with justice. How excel-lent is the teaching which He Allah gives you! Truly,Allah is Ever All-Hearing, All-Seeing (Qur’an 4:48)”

Your Lord has a right on you: your soul has a right on you;and your family has a right on you; so you should give therights to all those who have a right on you. Later on, Abu ad-Darda visited the Prophet and mentioned that to him. TheProphet said Salman has spoken the truth.

Anas ibn Malik narrated that a group of three men cameto the houses of the wives of the Prophet asking about howthe Prophet worshipped Allah. When they were informedabout that, they considered their worship insufficient and said:Where are we with respect to the Prophet, as his past andfuture sins have been forgiven? Then one of them said: I willoffer the prayer throughout the night forever. The other said:I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast.The third said: I will keep away from women and will nevermarry. Allah’s Messenger came to them and said: Are youthe same people who said such and such? By Allah, I ammore fearful of Allah and more conscious of Him than you.Yet, I fast and break my fast; I pray and I sheep; and I alsomarry women. Therefore, whoever turns away from my wayof life is not from me not one of my followers.

Abu Uthman narrated from Handhalah al-Usaydi and hewas one of the scribes of Allah’s Messenger that Abu Bakrcame across him once and found him Handhalah weeping.So Abu Bakr asked him: What is wrong with you, Handhalah?He replied: O Abu Bakr, Handhalah has become a hypocrite!When we are with the messenger of Allah we remember thefire and paradise as if we are looking at them with the nakedeye, but when we return, we busy ourselves with our wivesand livelihood and we forget so much. Abu Bakr said: ByAllah! The same thing happens to me. Let us go to theMessenger of Allah. So they went. When the Messenger ofAllah saw Handhalah, he asked: What is wrong with you,Handhalah? He said: O Messenger of Allah, Handhalah hasbecome a hypocrite! When we are with you, we remember thefire and paradise as if we can see them with the naked eye,but when we return we are busy with our wives and liveli-hood, and we forget so much. So the Messenger of Allahsaid: If you were to continually abide in the same state thatyou are in when you are with me, then the angels would shakehands with you in your gatherings, in your homes, and on thestreets! But, O Handhalah, there is time for this and time forthat and Allah’s Messenger repeated that finals statement threetimes.

1 4 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

CLASSIFIED:CHANGE OF NAMEOROBO – I, formerlycalled Miss Ivie TracyOrobo is now known andcalled Mrs. Ivie TracyUkere. All formerdocuments remain valid.Fidelity Bank Plc,concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

AIYEDE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Aiyede HannahTemitope now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Hannah TemitopeEkpu. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,NYSC and the generalpublic should please takenote.

OSEMWEGIE – I,formerly known andaddressed as Miss EgbeHarriet Osemwegie nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. EgbeHarriet NosawaruOgbeide. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

EHIAGWINA – I,formerly known andaddressed as MissLawrenta Ehiagwina nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Lawrenta Oboh. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

OGIERIAKHI – I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOgieriakhi EseosasereVictoria now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. OgunbamowoSunday EseosasereVictoria. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

OIGBOCHIE – I,formerly called MissOigbochie AkomenMercy now wish to becalled and addressed asMrs. Akomen MercyBenson Oziegbe. Allformer documents remainvalid. Esan West LocalGovernment Council,other concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

NWEKE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Chinyere BelindaNweke now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Chinyere BasseyUkoh. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Nursing and MidwiferyCouncil of Nigeria, UBTHand the general publicshould please take note.

AYENI – I, formerly knownand addressed as Miss AyeniMagdalene now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Oziegbe Magdalene.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

AMUNE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Amune OkeyinfuEvelyn now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Ose EvelynOkeyinfu. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

IGBINIGIE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Amenghasihion MabelIgbinigie now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. AmenghasihionMabel Frank Ajayi. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, NYSC and thegeneral public should pleasetake note.

BALOGUN – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Dupe Upe Balogunnow wish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. BashiruDupe Upe. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Nigeria ImmigrationService and the generalpublic should please takenote.

BELLO – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Eunice IhueghianBello now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Eunice Ihueghian Obaide-Longe. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

OKHIRIA – I, formerlyEdith Okhiria now wish tobe known, called andaddressed as Edith OkhiriaEdagha. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities and

the general public shouldplease take note.OKHIRIA – I, formerlyPromise Okhiria now wishto be known, called andaddressed as PromiseOkhiria Edagha. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

ODIAKA – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Florence Odiaka nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Florence BamiwojoEdosa. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Ministry of Arts, Cultureand Tourism, Edo State andthe general public shouldplease take note.

OMORAGBON - I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOmoragbon Queen nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Iguodala Queen. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

OWIE – I, formerly knownand addressed as MissOwie Mercy now wish tobe known and addressed asMrs. Mercy ItohanIfeanyi-Nwoye. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,College of EducationEkiadolor, Nursing andMidwifery Council ofNigeria and the generalpublic should please takenote.

IBIZUGBE – I, formerlyMiss Philomena OsasereIbizugbe now wish to beknown, called andaddressed as Mrs.Philomena OsasereOdeh. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities, EdoState Rapid ResponseAgency, House ofAssembly and the generalpublic should please takenote.

OSAIGBOVO – I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOsaigbovo AnwulikaHappiness now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. AnwulikaHappiness Ijeh. All

former documents remainvalid. Concerned authoritiesand the general publicshould please take note.OKONKWO – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Okonkwo ChinenyeGrace now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Tonwe GraceChinenye Eyitemi. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, LocalGovernment ServiceCommission and the generalpublic should please takenote.

LEBARI – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Lebari BarikumaVurale Grace now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Omoruyi OsaigbovoBarikuma Vurale Grace.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities, University ofBenin and the general publicshould please take note.

AIGBIRIOR – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Felicia IkhianosenAigbirior now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Felicia IkhianosenAkhigbe. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Hospitals ManagementBoard (HMB) Edo State andthe general public shouldplease take note.

UMWENI – I, formerlycalled Miss Umweni FavourUhunoma is now known andcalled Mrs. Milton FavourUhunoma. All formerdocuments remain valid.Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi,concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

UMORU – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Umoru OmonsinoseGrace now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. EmwinghareOmonsinose Grace. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, LAPO Micro-Finance Bank and thegeneral public should pleasetake note.

AIGBEDION – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Aigbedion Sonia Abiesnow wish to be known and Continued on page. 15

addressed as Mrs. OgbeborJoy Abies. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.ATIMA – I, formerly knownand addressed as Miss AtimaJoy Onowokparobo nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. JoyOnowokparobo OliviaAsekhame. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

AGBACHUKWU – I,formerly known andaddressed as Miss IfunanyaAgbachukwu now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Ifunanya Kulume. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concerned authorities,Nursing and MidwiferyCouncil of Nigeria and thegeneral public should pleasetake note.

OMOREGIE – I, formerlyknown and addressed as MissOmoregie Gift Osaretin nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. GiftOsaretin Ohuanbor. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concerned authoritiesand the general public shouldplease take note.

EMOVON – I, formerlyknown and addressed as MissOsamede Gift Emovon nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. OsamedeGift Omoregie. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,College of EducationEkiadolor and the generalpublic should please takenote.

OBOH – I, formerly knownand addressed as ObohEndurance Odianose nowwish to be known andaddressed as Oboh GreatOdianose. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

IGBINENIKARO – I,formerly known andaddressed as MissIgbinenikaro Uwaila nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. UwailaUyi-Obaseki. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities, LocalGovernment ServiceCommission, Nursing andMidwifery Council ofNigeria and the generalpublic should please takenote.

IDEHEN – I, formerlyknown and addressed as MissEdith Ovbokhan Idehen nowwish to be known and

addressed as Mrs. EdithOvbokhan Aigbodion.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities, Edo StateLocal GovernmentCommission, Ovia SouthWest L.G.A and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

OWIE – I, formerly calledMiss Martha Owie nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Martha Imafu. All formerdocuments remain valid.NBA and the generalpublic should please takenote.

AYEKE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asDr. Ayeke JoelOseleonomen now wish tobe known and addressed asDr. Okonobo-Ayeke JoelOseleonomen. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Medical and DentalCouncil of Nigeria, otherHealth Institutions and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

IGUDIA – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Igudia Pauline nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. PaulineIgudia Anslem. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, StateUniversal Basic EducationBoard (SUBEB) Edo Stateand the general publicshould please take note.

AMAYO – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Amayo Eunice nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. EuniceOkonobo-Ayeke. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, AuchiPolytechnic, Auchi and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

OMOLURU – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Blessing BernadethOmoluru now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Blessing BernadethKome-Salomi. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

IDAHOSA – I, formerlycalled Miss Idahosa FaithIkuvbogie now wish to becalled and addressed asMrs. Oliha FaithIkavbogie. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public should

1 5 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

RECONCILIATIONOF NAME

I, Amadu Tunde Osarenwish to bring for theinformation of the generalpublic that I am the sameperson as Amadu TundeKess as appeared in myvarious documents. It shouldbe known therefore that I amproperly known andaddressed as Amadu TundeOsaren. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andFirst Bank Plc should please

RECONCILIATIONOF NAME

I, Mr. Ibaralu EromoseleVictor is the same personas Eromosele IbharaluVictor. Henceforth, I nowwish to be properly knownand addressed as Mr.Ibaralu EromoseleVictor. All formerdocuments remain valid.Local GovernmentService Commission,Benin City, otherconcerned authorities andthe general public takenote.

please take note.

AILENAKHINA – I,formerly called MissAilenakhina Lilian nowwish to be called Mrs.Akhagbe Lilian. Allformer documents remainvalid. The Nigeria PoliceForce and the generalpublic should please takenote.OJIMBA – I, formerlyknown and addressed asFavour Chioma Ojimbanow wish to be knownand addressed as FavourOsarumen Ojimba. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

RAIMI – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Latifatu Raimi nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Latifatu Omoregbon.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

KIHODU – I, formerlyMrs. Omo OmasanKihodu now wish to beknown and addressed asMiss Omo OmasanEdogun. All formerdocuments remain valid.UNIBEN, otherconcerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

AHUHULE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Felicia OnyieweaAhuhule now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Felicia OnyieweaIdugboe. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authoritiesand the general publicshould please take note.

NWABUWE – I,formerly known andaddressed as Miss JulietNwabuwe now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Juliet SunnyInegbedion. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authoritiesand the general publicshould please take note.

UMANE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Success .O. Umanenow wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Success OshuwaIregbeyen. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authoritiesand the general publicshould please take note.

IGBINEWEKA – I,

formerly known andaddressed as MissImuentiyan GladysIgbineweka now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Imuentiyan GladysAmadasun. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.ENEBELI – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Josephine TojuEnebeli now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Josephine TojuAtuyota. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,National Youth ServiceCorps (NYSC) and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

ODEKHIRAN – I,formerly known andaddressed as Miss BlessingErekpitan Odekhiran nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. BlessingErekpitan Iyamu. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

AJIBOLA – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Ajibola OmoneJuliana now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Bamidele-ItuahOmone Juliana. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

OBASUYI – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss VivianIriagbonmwense Obasuyinow wish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. VivianI r i a g b o n m w e n s eImoagene. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,University of Benin and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

INONSE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Priscilla AizighodeInonse now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Priscilla AizighodeImhanfidon. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

IGBINOVIA – I, formerlyknown and addressed asIgbinovia Friday Edebirinow wish to be known andaddressed as IgbinosaTerry Edebiri. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

EMOVON – I, formerly

known and addressed asMiss Emovon Iyore Faithnow wish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. IyoreFaith Olatunde SamuelBoun. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,State Universal BasicEducation Board(SUBEB) Edo State andthe general public shouldplease take note.

SUNDAY – I, formerlyknown and addressed asSunday Erharuyi Nelsonnow wish to be known andaddressed asAghatamokhuo SundayErharuyi Nelson. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities, College ofEducation Ekiadolor andthe general public shouldplease take note.

OMOKIDE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Sidikat FlorenceOmokide now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Siddy FlorenceAgidigbi. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Ambrose Alli University(AAU) Ekpoma, NBA,Abuja Branch and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

ONAGHISE – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Uduji Sarah andMiss Sarah Edugie nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. SarahEdugie Guobadia. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

CHILAKA – I, formerlyGina Jane Chilaka nowwish to be known, calledand addressed as GinaJone Chinaka. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

MARTINS – I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Martins Manna andMiss Martina Manna nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. MannaJoseph. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,Nigeria Police Force(NPF) and the generalpublic should please takenote.

GEORGE – I, formerlyMiss Vivian George nowwish to be known, calledand addressed as Mrs.Vivian Edirin Eboigbe.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities and the general

public should please takenote.

OKUNGBOWA – I,formerly MissO s e m w e n y e m w e nOkungbowa now wish to beknown, called andaddressed as Mrs.Omokaro AgnesOyemwen. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.OGBEBOR –I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Amenze Ogbebor nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. AmenzeAmusa-Eke. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

UKPAI – I, formerlyEmmanuel Achunike Ukpainow wish to be known,called and addressed asEmmanuel AchunikeNgele. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

ASIEHOR – I, formerlyMiss Patricia AruoriwoAsiehor now wish to beknown, called andaddressed as Mrs. PatriciaAruoriwo Odemwingie.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities and the generalpublic should please takenote.

IYAMU – I, formerlyMiss Esohe Tracy Iyamunow wish to be known,called and addressed asMrs. Esohe TracyErhabor. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities,State Universal BasicEducation Board(SUBEB) and the generalpublic should please takenote.OKONJI – I, formerlyknown and addressed asOkonji Chanrity now wishto be known and addressedas Odeh EkinadesePortia. All formerdocuments remain valid.Concerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

EROMIKHODION – I,

CLASSIFIED:CHANGE OF NAME

WHEREAS the persons whose names are set out in the firstcolumn hereunder died intestate on the date and at the placestated in the column;

AND WHEREAS the persons whose names, addresses andclaimed relationship to the deceased are set in the secondcolumn hereunder have applied to the Probate Registrar,High Court of Justice, Edo State of Nigeria for a grant ofLetters of Administration of the real and personal propertyof the deceased.

NOTICE IS BY THIS GIVEN that Letters of Administra-tion will be granted to such persons unless a NOTICE toprohibit the grant is filed in this Registry within Twenty-One (21) days from the date of the publication of this no-tice.

LEGAL NOLEGAL NOLEGAL NOLEGAL NOLEGAL NOTICETICETICETICETICE

IN IN IN IN IN THE HIGH COURTHE HIGH COURTHE HIGH COURTHE HIGH COURTHE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICET OF JUSTICET OF JUSTICET OF JUSTICET OF JUSTICE

EDO STEDO STEDO STEDO STEDO STAAAAATE OF NIGERIATE OF NIGERIATE OF NIGERIATE OF NIGERIATE OF NIGERIA

PRPRPRPRPROBOBOBOBOBAAAAATE REGISTRTE REGISTRTE REGISTRTE REGISTRTE REGISTRYYYYY

BENIN CITYBENIN CITYBENIN CITYBENIN CITYBENIN CITY

NOS NAMES APPLICANTS FORGRANT PED/507/2013

Mr. Festus Otasowie Omereand Mrs. Felicia Usman of No.3, Eboigbe Street, Off M.M.Way, Benin City, son anddaughter respectively of thedeceased.

1. MRS. MARYO K H I A R OORONSAYE (A.K.A)MRS. MARYORONSAYE Late ofOkoro, Ovia NorthEast L.G.A., who diedon the 7th day ofMarch, 2013 in BeninCity.

Signed:H.I. ENEMAKU ESQ.,

PROBATE REGISTRAR

DATED THIS 13TH TH DAY OF JUNE, 2013

The general public is hereby notified that the above namedMinistry has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission forregistration under the Companies and Allied Matters Act No.1of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE1. Pastor Asika Jones.2. Pastor Ohikhuai Henry3. Pastor Sylvester Ivienagbor4. Pastor Isaac Ovu5. Pastor Impact Ogbeide

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES1. To preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Any objection to the registration should be directed to theRegistrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420,Tigris Crescent, Maitama District, P. M. B. 198 Garki, Abuja,within 28 days from the date of this publication.

PUBLIC NOTICESHINING STARS CHURCH

Signed: Nath Okunbor (Esq)

formerly known as MissIsabel OmoyeEromokhodion now wishto be known as Mrs.Isabel OmoyeAkhuemokhan. Allformer documents remainvalid. Concernedauthorities and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.IKHINE – I, formerlyknown as Miss MercyEseohe Ikhine now wishto be known as Mrs.Mercy Eseohe Ehiane.All former documentsremain valid. Concernedauthorities and thegeneral public shouldplease take note.

MOMOH – I, formerlyMiss Victoria OmokhuweMomoh now wish to beknown, called andaddressed as Mrs.Victoria OmokhuweUankhehi Igein. Allformer documents remainvalid. Local GovernmentService Commission,Benin City, otherconcerned authorities andthe general public shouldplease take note.

1 6 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Insight

Strikes: Again, The GraBy OLUGBEMIRO O. MICHAEL

A deep sense of sadnessflowed through my being asI saw students coming backhome from school on aMonday morning (3rd ofJune, 2013). The reasonthat filled the air as theycame back home was thatthe teachers were on strike.On some faces were smiles,while those that lovedschool felt about the situa-tion. It is almost becominga reoccurring situation thatteachers go on strike whentheir needs are not met orthere is a misunderstandingbetween them and the gov-ernment. The report fromPUNCH(Monday read“The Nigerian Union ofTeachers on Thursdayurged teachers in 11 statesto embark on strike fromJune1 (Saturday)...” thismeans that children will nothave opportunity to receiveand have access to theirrights to be educated untilthis situation is resolved.The affected states in thislatest strike include: CrossRiver, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ogun,Edo, Kogi, Niger, Borno,Benue, Zamfara andSokoto. Addressing report-ers in Abuja, the NUTpresident, Mr. MichaelOlukoya, vowed that thestrike would continue un-til the demands of the au-thorities are met (Punch).To the students, that meantno school, until the de-mands are met, probably tothe teachers it met: moremoney for them and to thegovernment: are we at thispoint again? The teachersare presently fighting forthe payment of the 27.5percent Teachers ‘En-hanced Salary Scale(TESS) and 18,000 mini-

mum wages.The complaint of the

teachers include the factthat “on the 6th of August2008, the Nigerian Gover-nors Forum, under the lead-ership of Dr. Bukola Sarakiand Arc. Namadi Sambo,then of Kwara and Kadunastates respectively, aschairman and secretary ofNGF, did not only enter theaffray but successfully ne-gotiated with the NUT andgranted 27.5% Teacherspeculiar allowance andmade payable from Janu-ary, 2009. While somestates after much strugglehave come to terms with it,some others have refusedto; this is so saddening, thatthe president of the NUTcalled the strike a “painfulaction” that has resultedfrom the deadlock in nego-tiations and dialogue. Alsoin addition to the commentsof Comrade Olukoya thatthe parents and childrenwill bear the brunt, a popu-lar adage says that “whentwo elephants fight, thegrass suffers”. In view ofthat, my aim is to paint apicture of the plight of thestudents, children and theleaders of tomorrow in thisprecarious situation.

The teachers have apoint, why shouldn’t theybe properly paid for theirwork, “for a labourer isworthy of his hire”. Withthe level of importance thatis embedded in their func-tions, their welfare is meantto be of immense impor-tance to the nation. A lawmaker that joins in the pro-cess of making laws, withhis work mainly to think,do research and say “AI”and “NAY” earn tens of

millions, while some statesare struggling to pay18,000 naira minimumwage to the people thattrain the leaders of tomor-row and the “Units” thathold the contents of con-tinuous developmentaledge of a nation or state;this is appalling and shouldto an extent provoke thoseteachers to take action.These people are very im-portant and their wellbeinghas a direct or indirect ef-fect on the growth and de-velopment of any nation.Any country that does notappreciate her teacherscannot grow. In the wordsof Henry Adams , “Ateacher affects eternity; hecan never tell where hisinfluence can reach”;hence they should be en-couraged in every ramifi-cation including their re-muneration. The obviousfact that some states delib-erately exempted teachersfrom the payment of mini-mum wage (I8, 000 naira)is saddening to hear, Com-rade Olukoya (PresidentNUT) specifically men-tioned Benue, Zamfara,Kogi and Sokoto. Onething that sincerely painsme is the mention of mystate of origin “KOGI”. Iwasn’t born in Kogi andhave lived all my life inRivers state but I was op-portune to school in OndoState, with a good percent-age of the best and excel-lent students from Kogistate; it makes me wonderhow many students would

have been best or better ifthey are exposed to com-fortable teachers.

Some of the excuses ofthe government have beenunavailability of money,

cials in Nigeria are high).There might be issues todiscuss between both par-ties (i.e. the Teachers and

ment of these respectivestates are looking at that weare not seeing... but please,if there are things like that,

Government), for the situ-ation on ground to be prop-erly handled. My introduc-tion hammers on the factthat teachers in Nigeriashould be properly takencare of, because the meritsare more than the conse-quences. The beauty inher-ent, can take Nigeria to thepromise land which is thedream of any patriotic citi-zens.

However, I choose tobelieve that no governmentwill be intentionally insen-sitive to the plights of herfuture leaders. I choose tobelieve that probably thereare things that the govern-

it should be quickly sortedout so that the grass willnot suffer too much.

We the children havebeen left to bear the brunt,in our innocence leadersare chosen for us as wecannot vote (for those of usbelow 18). For some of us,the school is the only placewe find succour away fromthe problems and hardshipsprevalent in the society, forothers the school providesthe only source of hope tomake it in life and delivertheir families from the pre-vailing bad situations.Other children go to schoolso as to remain relevant in

but this same money isavailable to fund a largelyexpensive government (thecost of maintaining thegovernment and her offi-

“The teachers have a point, why shouldn’tthey be properly paid for their work, “for alabourer is worthy of his hire”. With thelevel of importance that is embedded intheir functions, their welfare is meant tobe of immense importance to the nation.”

1 7 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

asses Are Suffering

Insight

this ever changing and de-veloping world. Anytimeteachers go on strike, thesejoys are taken away fromus and other innocent chil-dren. For some the joy that

of. Again, the conse-quences flow slowly andquietly with more powerand effect:

Ø The children are ex-posed to the consequences

that an idle man is thedevil’s workshop, whoknows what bad habit canbe imbibed in that few mo-ments of idleness at home?One thing that should re-

what has been keepingthem from snapping andyou take that away fromthem? I do not want tochoose sides in this situa-tion, but I think it will beheartless for anybody toput the leaders of tomorrowthrough such situation.

Ø When the school re-sumes, the students aremade to work double thannormal to cover up for thelost grounds for things thatare not their faults. Some-times, some of the topics,concepts, themes etc areskipped to make up for thelost grounds and this buildsa break or gap in theknowledge acquired bythese students.

Sometimes, I alwayswonder what the intendedeffects of these strikes are,the children of these politi-cians are in private schools,and those that are mosttimes directly affected havenothing to be done aboutthe situation. I will appealto both camps and partiesto quickly come to settle-ment, with the view of notallowing it happen again.The leaders of tomorrowshould not continue to suf-fer for the consequences ofthe leaders of Today. Fromboth camps, efforts shouldbe made to prevent the chil-dren and youths from learn-ing the wrong lessons andinculcating the worst hab-its. I believe if the commonground remains love forthose innocent children inthe towns, villages and dif-ferent places in the society,the teachers and the gov-

ernment concerned in thesituation will make effortsto make sure the conditionis of excellent quality.

With the depth of sincer-ity, I appeal to the teach-ers, arguably because afterthe children (students) andparents, they are the nextin the chain of those suf-fering in this situation. Theconsolation that their func-tion is to impact on livesshould help fuel them evenat this points where they arejustifiably aggrieved. Oneof the beauties of the teach-ing profession is that itgives room for more ben-efits than just the remu-neration, it also helps inPride and relationship(This is key to a better sur-vival that any remunerationcan bring). Till today, thoseteachers that made sensei.e. they did not involve inExam malpractice, objec-tive and did not practicefavouritism, were excellentin their respective disci-plines and had excellentmanagement skills stillhave my respect till todayand I cannot see them infuture and not handsomelyreward them. For me theirrewards begin here on earthand not until they get toheaven and I know, thereare many people with thissame view. Please myteachers, look beyond theobvious shortcomings ofthe government, and see thegreenness that is availablein the heart of these youngchildren, and let that giveyou hope not to affect theircalendar and lives. Yourrights must be met, butplease, let it not be the one,that we have these forms ofconsequences on the chil-

dren, who says the childrenwill not fight for you, joineven in the strikes and pro-test, if you show that theyare more important to youthan the financial benefitsthat come along with theprofession. Notwithstand-ing, the remuneration isvery important and shouldnot be swept under the car-pet.

Dear Government (stateand Federal), majority ofthe great men in power indifferent spheres of life,ranging from politics toscience, to technology inNigeria, went through pub-lic schools . People likeFemi Osofisan, WoleSoyinka, Chinua Achebe,Babatunde Fashola, AdamsOshiomhole, Jim Ovia etccame out from publicschools. Should we denypeople of such capacity inour present public schoolsthe opportunity to learn inexcellent environments?Let us not affect the qual-ity of their educationthrough strikes and othershortcomings in the educa-tional sector. No nation candevelop above the qualityof her educational system;hence more efforts shouldbe put in place to check thevarious problems affectingthe children and teachers intheir classrooms. For thenow, the two elephants arestill fighting, and the grassare suffering... too muchstress on grass makes thegrass dry up and die. I leavethat to you to interpret. Allrelevant stake holdersshould make sure all thingsare put in place to preventsubsequent strikes andmake the teachers and stu-dents more comfortable.

fills them when they wakeup in the morning knowingfully well that the effectsof unavailability of electric-ity for the day time, theabsence of food, the bore-dom, insecurity, absence ofsocialization etc that will beavoided by going to schoollooses its sweet smellingsavour and we are left todance to the music.

Sometimes, within me Iwonder, what do the Teach-ers seek to gain when theygo on strike? The answershurryingly fill my head likea broken dam: for their de-mands to be met and forthem to be well taken care

of something they know littleor nothing about

Ø At that young age, some-times adolescents; they areexposed to hardships andsituations that can mar theirthinking and mindset abouttheir nation. Imagine some-one that is made to be athome, when his mates in pri-vate schools are in school?How do you think they willfeel, what view do you thinkthey will have concerningthis great nation (in the mak-ing). Sometimes, these mightmake them do things thatthey naturally would not liketo do

Ø A popular aphorism says

main in our minds is thatthe students in majority ofthe public schools arepeople from homes that arenot financially buoyant,probably school has been

“People like Femi Osofisan, Wole Soyinka, ChinuaAchebe, Babatunde Fashola, Adams Oshiomhole, JimOvia etc came out from public schools. Should we denypeople of such capacity in our present public schoolsthe opportunity to learn in excellent environments? Letus not affect the quality of their education throughstrikes and other shortcomings in the educational sec-

1 8 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Art AliveWorship Of Osun Deity And Its

Relevance To Osogbo ArtBy OGUNDIPE VICTORIA ABIMBOLA

Primordial SacredSpaces

Oya Bush (IgboOya):

Igbo Oya is dedicatedto Oya; one of the threewives of Sango, the Orisaof thunder and lightning,it was at this point that thegreat hunter of Osogbo,Oalutimehin first encoun-tered the Orisa of herbalmedicines, calledOsanyin.

Oro Bush (IgboOro):

This is the divineagency connected withwinds that its membersinvoke before major ritualevents, to cleanse thecommunity of any evilspirits. In Osogbo, TheOro ceremony takes placethree months before theOsun Osogho festival inAugust when ancestralmasquerades (Egungun)appears in the context ofthe Oro ceremony.

Orubu Bush (IgboOrubu):

This is one of the wor-shiping points on the OsunRiver. It is under the cus-tody of a priest diviner thatthrough the Ifa Oraclemay carry out purificationa ritual that involves thebathing of the candidatesin the river.

Ifa Bush (lgbo Ifa):This is a sacred space

dedicated to Ifa Oracledevotees and medicinalherbalists (Babalawos).Here is a school of practi-tioners who through thedivination and practicalstuds are able to identifythe casualty agents of dis-eases, the appropriate andherbal prescriptions.

Epa Bush (IgboEpa):

This is the locationassociated with huntingand blacksmithinship aswell as the ceremony as-sociated with marshal art.It would be recalled thatthe cofounder of OsunGrove was Olutimehin ahunter and a friend to

Larooye the first Ataoja.Individual Shrines:At the entrance of the

Osun Osogbo Grove arcsome shrines dedicated tocentral Yoruba Orisashosted by Osun. These are

Sango, Oya, Esu, Obatalaand Ogun. At the medita-tion ground located oppo-site the main entrance gateare the following shrinesdedicated to other Orisassuch as Ela and Sopoona.

Sculptural and Ar-chitectural Works.

Clay built sculpturesand its unique architec-tural designs serve to pro-vide an air of solemnity tothe groove. This was at-tributed to the contributionof Susanne Wenger alsoknown as “Aduni Olosa”an Austrian artist, whobecame a devotee of Osunafter a visit to the country.She made use of shrinefine clays with cement forher constructions. Thesculptural works are withcomplexities of figures todepict Yoruba gods anddifferent curved structuresto depict water statues

which arc mostly in cubicforms and some are gi-gantic e.g. “Iyamopo”.Adebisi Akanji and KasaliAkangbe assisted

Susanne in the construc-tion of her monumentalstatues and the capacity ofthe shine which entails alot of synchronies offorms.

Oluremi, (2001)stated that,

“Osun Osogbo Sa-cred Grove Festival is anannual affair which re-volves round Ataoja andthe Osogbo people. it isthe renewal of the mysticbonds between Osun andother deities of the groveand the people. “pg. 23.

The twelve (12) daysfestival starts and ends inthe town’s palace ofAtaoja, beginning with thephysical and ritual clean-ing of the pilgrimage route(Iwopopo) from the pal-ace in the center of thetown (Ghacmu) to thegrove. The royal priestess(Iya Osun) and the priest

(Aworo) accompanyingthe household of the Kingwith Traditional Chiefs,High Chiefs and other no-tables with singing and

dancing.Similarly, Aloysius,(2002) stated that,

“Rites requires a pe-riod of seclusions fromcommunity life and couldextend for days.

Ritual rites are per-formed by a few selectedpeople, whose roles arenot negotiable. “pg.125.

The second to the fifthday of the festival wit-nesses the appearance ofmasquerades dedicated toancestors as well asSango. Godwin, (1980,pg. 1 8) in his study on theOvwuvwc Festival, says,“Its celebration covers aperiod of about threemonths but the actual cel-ebration covers a period ofabout fourteen daysmarked with different ac-tivities.”

Ahiodun, (1983,

pg.69) buttressed that“different traditional com-munities may thereforefeature different festivalsfor different purposes, theessence of all remains thesame. In a community a

masquerade may be seenas a link between the deadand the living, while inanother as a link betweena god and the people.

According to Aremu,(1983) masquerade(Egungun) can best be re-ferred to as the spirits ofthe deceased “Ara Orun”,“the dweller of heaven”,because of the existenceof deities. It is possible tohave the conception thatthere is after life and thatbetween those who havegone and those who arcstill on earth there is aclose and active bond.Nearly all towns and vil-lages (in Yoruba land)have their respective setsof Egungun.

The night of the sixthday of the festival is dedi-cated to Osanyin, a deity

responsible for healingthrough the knowledge ofthe use of herbs. On thisoccasion a SIXTEEN-POINTS LAMP is lit us-ing cotton wicks soaked inpalm oil (from 700pm to700am). The Ataoja, hiswife/wives, Ifa priests andtraditional priests woulddance round the SIX-TEEN-POINTS LAMP,three times to the admira-tion of a cross section ofthe Osogbo people presentat the palace ground.

The seventh day isdedicated to the Ifa (divi-nation) priests who alsodance round Osogbotown. While the eight dayactivities includes acro-batic performances bypersonified deities likeOya. It is also to be notedthat in the same way andas a preliminary to the fes-tival, a cleansing cer-emony is dedicated toOro.

The tenth day wit-nesses the exhibition ofcrowns of the past andpresent kings for a rededi-cation to Osun. On thisoccasion, Chiefs, Priestsand Priestesses will pros-trate and kneel down be-fore the crowns as mark ofhonors to the royal ances-tors. The occasion is toinvoke the spirits of theancestors of the Ataoja fora bestowal of blessings onOsogbo people. Eatingand drinking at the palacecourtyard follow this.Bensandy, (2004) but-tresses that, “significanceof festivals, which is alsoinherent in culture as it is,is art. Indeed, traditionalfestivals are characterizedby music, dance, cos-tumes, ritual and art.”Also, Eweka, (1992, pg.3)postulates, “The culturaldevelopment of our peopledoes not rest with art-

With

FRANCIS ODUPUTE

1 9 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Art And Culture With AMBROSE EKHOSUEHI

Stars In Culture STARS are of heavenly

planets visible by nightwhose places in the firma-ment are relatively fixed assupposed influence too onones luck. Stars and planets inbiblical lore were regardedas messengers, angels inthe service of God; “Whenthe morning stars sang to-gether and all the sons ofGod shouted for Joy” “All the skies to nightsing over us, sweet and far,star to star maketh solemnchorus, time the mid nightbless is telling, when ourlord God, the Word madewith us his dwelling” Stars are found in largegroups called galaxies. Thegalaxy is a wide tremen-dous band of light lookinglike cloud because the starsare so far away that theycannot be seen distinctly. Itis shaped like a flat discwith the solar system lyingnear the edge.Stars are classed accordingto their brightness in mag-nitudes; brightness is theintegrity of a star as it ap-pears to the naked eyes andis not indicative of actualbrightness, thus Orion—Aghuo magnitude appearsto be hundred timesbrighter that Ursa Major.The pole star is so near toNorth celestial pole that itsposition appears constant.The stars close to Polarisnever disappear below thehorizon in their apparentrotation about the polars t a r . The earth rotates on itsaxis from West to East, thestars appear to travelacross the heavens in acounter directions East toWest, travelling at many

kilometers per second.They only remain station-ary in relation to each otherbecause of their remote-n e s s . Astronomical distanceare so vast that it is moreconvenient to express themin the time it takes light toaccomplish its journey. The kings or Wisemenunderstood the divineAstro-science from whichflow material and spiritualknowledge. This was theirreligion and life was theironly ceremony.

These towering individu-als saw human existence asa continuous progressionof consciousness.

These Wisemen were notlike the ambitious and com-petitive men who Governedbut were more like patronsand patriarchs.

They had attained sub-lime state of quietude,which allowed them to per-form naturally withoutneeding to compete tochange order of things.They has replaced that ego-tistical desire to find outwith potent calm of selfknowing in itself aspect ofdivination and divinity. Thestar shone brightly whenJesus Christ was born andled the Wisemen to dis-cover the new born king.

The Babylonians werethe first people to evolve asystem of simple Observa-tion of the movements andnamed at least two constel-lations Pleiades and Orion(Aghoo)

The Earliest observersnoticed that various con-junctions of planets corre-sponded with certain pre-dictable events in the na-tions or tribes affairs; so

Astrology was strictly statematter, its finding referredto the fate and hopes of thenation. These were per-sonified in kings for whatwas good for the king wasgood for the people.

The church through oneon the influential son-STThomas Aquinas declaredthat God ruled inferiorcreatures through superiorcreatures and so ruledearthly bodies through thestars.

Dane Tycho Brahe (1546— 1601) was recognizedas accurate observer of theheavens and made an ex-traordinary predictionbased on the appearance ofa comet. He said that in1592, a man ordained forgreater enterprise in reli-gious cause would be born

in Finland and would diein 1632 AD. The predictionfilled exactly the life andcareer of GustavusAdolphus who with hisarmies won outstandingvictories for the protestant

religion during the thirtyyear war and died at themoment of his most glori-ous victory over the Ger-man forces in 1632 A.D.

Stars seemed to remainunchanged year after yearin the sky. The constella-tions looked much the sameto the ancient as they donow.

Stars do not last for ever.In the year 1054 AD, a bril-liant star suddenly ap-peared in the sky and fortwo years it shown sobrightly that it was visibleduring the day; then faded

away. This was one of thefirst recorded stars that endtheir lives in tremendousexplosion.

By no means star ends itslife as a spectacular super-nova but every star has

definite beginning and defi-nite end. The brightest starsare thousand million timesbrighter than the dulleststars.

In the sky the stars varyin brightness a few beingvery bright indeed, whileothers are so faint that theycan hardly be seen. Thebrightness of a star iscalled its magnitude.

Some stars are calledvariable stars and the lightreceive from them ischanging in brightness allthe time. Observations ofvariable stars have helpedto understand the universein several ways.

In 1968 Scientist foundstars that produce regularpulse of radio waves andlight up to thirty times asecond. The light fromsome binary system variesin a very special way be-

cause from time to time,one of the revolving starspasses in front of the othercutting off its light and arecalled eclipsing binarieshence in poetry, “twinkle,twinkle little stars, how I

wonder what you are, likea diamond in the sky”

Stars in culture havemore in meaning, a pre —eminent, exceptionally bril-liant person, a leading per-former, one suppose todraw the public, to shine asa star, to attract attentionand have been in decora-tion and emblems or flagsto mark or adore with staror stars of many nations.

Stars denote great andgood fortune, importantand very beneficial event tocome, good news but a fall-ing star from the sky por-tends disaster.

A star is a brightly shin-ning heavenly body, usu-ally excluding the sun, themoon, planets and cometsbut a planet in relation toits supposed influence onhuman affairs born undera lucky star in the culture.

“Stars in culture have more in meaning, a pre — eminent, exception-ally brilliant person, a leading performer, one suppose to draw thepublic, to shine as a star, to attract attention and have been in decora-tion and emblems or flags to mark or adore with star or stars of manynations. Stars denote great and good fortune, important and very ben-eficial event to come, good news but a falling star from the sky por-

2 0 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

FEMINIQUEMinistry of Women Affairs In Focus

“We Are Set To Reinvent

The Grassroots” - MaigidaWith IJEOMA UMEH

email:ladywithegoldenpen@yahoo.co.uk

Tel: 08182382839TUESDAY, June 11 was notlike any other day in the Minis-try of Women Affairs and So-cial Development, Edo State.On that day, virtually all, exceptfew, of the wives of Local Gov-ernment Chairmen who by vir-tue of their position had becomechairpersons of Women Devel-opment Programme (WDP) intheir various councils convergedat the Ministry premises tochart a formidable course forthe WDP as well as re-strategisefor the overall wellbeing of thecouncils.

Hence, the women andchildren’s Hall in the ministrywas full to capacity as bothchairpersons, secretaries, coor-dinators and representatives ofchairs mingled in one accord todeliberate on salient issueswhich mainly revolved roundthe strengthening of the LGCmonthly markets, advancingmeasures on how to ensure thatthe monthly markets are sus-tained and remained veritabletools for solidifying the eco-nomic base of the LGC and asavenue for showcasing eachcouncils’ agricultural develop-ment capacities and more im-portantly, for boosting the mar-kets’ strategic position as meansof empowering women evenwhile also serving as means ofrevenue generation for govern-ment.

Presiding over the all impor-tant meeting, the Commissionerfor Women Affairs and SocialDevelopment, Hon. (Mrs.)Blessing Maigida, supported bya top director in the Ministry,Princess (Mrs.) Margaret Jos-Bazuaye and the Special Assis-tant to the Governor on WomenAffairs, Lady Belinda Ogiefacommended the women fortheir prompt response and forturning out enmass for the

stakeholders forum.The commissioner reiterated

the Comrade Adams AliyuO s h i o m h o l e - l e dadministration’s resolve to en-sure that the dividends of thegovernment’s proactive gover-nance flowed from the rural tourban areas and highlighted themandate of her ministry which,among other things, is to ensurethat the wellbeing and overallinterest of women and childrenremained at the fore front of alleffort geared towards theirupliftment, their empowermentin health and in wealth.

She noted that this all impor-tant meeting, which was inter-active in nature, would be a con-tinuous forum for brainstormingon topical issues concerninghow to improve the lot ofwomen and children, especiallythose at the grassroots and notjust about how to generate rev-enue through the markets forgovernment, but as well as anopportunity to stress the impor-tance of revenue generation insupport of government’s devel-opment plans for the local com-munities.

A thirty-minute brainstormingsaw the women deliberating onhow to clear backlogs of theN20,000.00 monthly levies foreach council, the need to clearthe backlogs, the importance ofbeing diligent in paying and theneed not to default.

It was generally agreed thatthe backlogs from the era whenHeads of Service held the forteto the time of caretaker commit-tees would have been as a re-sult of a gap in communication.Inability to transmit informationthrough radio message transmit-ters was admitted.

The duo of the commissionerand the Director, including theSA to the governor enjoined the

• Hon. (Mrs.) Blessing Maigida: Women Affairs Commis-sioner, Edo State

women to ensure that the radiomessage transmission system ineach council was functional toensure effective communica-tion.

“The world has become a glo-bal village due to the impor-tance and strategic place com-munication gadgets occupy inbridging the gap betweenpeople no matter the distance.Therefore, kindly ensure theradio message transmitters inyour various councils are opti-mally functional in order tobridge those gaps in communi-cation” Princess (Mrs.) Marga-ret Jos-Bazuaye stated.

On her part, the commissionernoted that payment of dues andlevies was a key feature of ev-ery organized sector and that ifthere must be an even distribu-tion of development, revenuegeneration must not be compro-mised. She stressed the impor-tance of the monthly marketexercise which among otherthings, include its strategicplacement as a channel for theactualization of women empow-erment, a port for the distribu-tion of goods and services whichare the end products of years ofhardwork, as well as being anavenue for showcasing each lo-cal government’s special fea-tures, whether in hand crafts oragricultural produce.

As discussions peaked it wasunanimously agreed that theresponsibility lay on wives oflocal government chairpersonsto individually cooperate withand support their councils topay the levy by the dutiful ap-plication of the innate qualitieswhich nature had vested uponthem. That remark, as sug-gested by one of the represen-tatives of a council chair, turnedout to be the highpoint, a comic

relief of sorts as the hall snowballed into a ball room of cheer-ful grins, happy chatters andlaughter, with each womanagreeing that they indeed hadthe natural endowment to evokea change on their individualmerits and capacities.

Having agreed on that point,the meeting progressed intohow WDP chairs should teamup with their spouses to ensurethey achieved success in localgovernment administration intotality without allowing them-selves to be boxed into playingsecond fiddle, particularly inthe roles where they should beseen being at the forefront, i.ein immunization, women, youthand girl-child support and em-powerment.

The commissioner enjoinedthe women to be creative andproactive in advancingprogrammes that would impactas well as improve the lives ofwomen in their various commu-nities without being seen asengaging in power tussles withtheir husbands who by virtue ofthe process of their democraticelections, were heads of theirvarious councils. She however,appealed to the women not torelent in taking up role-specifictasks as well as giving vibrantsupports to their husbands, theCouncil chairs, as partners inprogress.

She listed out the functions ofWDP Chairs to include the co-ordination of women in thegrassroots, the advancement ofempowerment measures andpackages, including loans, skillacquisitions, teaching and en-lightenment through seminarsand workshops, health screen-ings and referrals, addressingthe plight of the less privileged,

orphans and giving support tophysically challenged persons,including grassroots mobiliza-tion of women for all the pur-poses mentioned.

At the end of the event, thecommissioner, alongside stake-holders, basked in fulfillmentand in the satisfaction of a taskwell accomplished. She spoketo FEMINIQUE on the event:

Excerpts:How would you describe the

gathering today?I would describe it as a meet-

ing at which measures to ad-vance the cause of women at thegrassroots were discussed, be-tween the chairpersons, coordi-nators and secretaries of WDPat the 18 Local GovernmentCouncils and my Ministry. Is-sues regarding women empow-erment, reinvigoration of thelocal markets, revenue genera-

tion and others were thrashedout.

By your own estimation,would you say you had a suc-cessful meeting?

Yes, a very successful meet-ing indeed! You can see thewomen all looking gay and ex-cited because they have a lot totake back to their various coun-cils. They have been challengedto empower the women, to sup-port their spouses and to be cre-ative, initiative and proactive atdevising means of improvingthe lot of women in their lo-cales, and to join in strengthen-ing the monthly markets whicheach council is noted for.

With several challengesconfronting women economi-cally, health and otherwisehow ready is your ministry totackle the challenges affectingwomen generally?

God willing, I am ready andwith the support of like-mindedwomen at the Local Govern-ment Councils we will do all wecan to consolidate on the effortsof a gender – friendly govern-ment. Those were part oftoday’s deliberation.

How would you rate theComrade Governor’s admin-istration?

In just a few words I wouldsay the administration is toogood to be true!

Meanwhile the 10th Gradu-ation/Prize Giving Day Cer-emony of the Edo State SkillAcquisition Centre,Evbuomodu was held yester-day, June 13, 2013, while theshowcasing of agriculturalproduce and handicrafts bythe various councils wouldtake place today, June 14 atUrhokpota Hall in Benin City.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then goals must bethe father

- Michael Leboeuf

Life is like a wild tiger. You can either lie down and let it layits paw on your head…or you can sit on its back and ride it.

- RIDE THE WILD TIGER

The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady. Itsounds like a saddle horse.

- Jacqueline Kennedy

Next Week!Organization Empowers 100 WidowsThe Norion Foundation, an NGO has held one of its bumper

empowerment programmes, giving support to 100 widowsin Edo State.

Also, 100 years of Nigerian Women, see who the unseenand unsung heroines are!

CSP Patience Omokaro of the Zonal Intelligence Bureau,Zone 5 Police Headquarters Benin in focus.

Words On Marble

• Facilitators of Norion Foundation, an NGO, empowering women

2 1 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Discourse Creation Of Midwest Region Of Nigeria And Life

Times Of Senator Dalhton Ogieva Asemota O.B.E.By NOWAMAJBE A. OMOIGUI

Contd from last two weeks

To be contd.

AS a well-known Merchant and public official from Benin,Senator Dahlton Ogieva Asemota was appointed officer ofthe Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the BritishEmpire (OBE) in the Queen’s 1962 New Year Honours.The insignia (ribbon) was sent from the United Kingdomand presented in Nigeria on the Queen’s behald. As an-nounced on page 44 (fourth supplement) of the LondonGazette of 29th December, 1961, the award was given “Inrecognition of service as a Senator in the Nigerians Westernregion Federal Upper House.” Historically, since 1689 various British classes and ordersof chivalry have existed. Currently, in order of seniority, thesix British orders of chivalry are, the most Noble order of theGarter, the most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle,The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, The Most Distin-guished Order of St Michael and St George, The Royal Vic-torian Order, and The Most Excellent Order of the BritishEmpire. The Order of the British Empire (which Dahlton wasawarded), was originally instituted on June 4th, 1917 duringthe First World War by King George V. Beginning in 1981and subsequently, Military and Civil Divisions were estab-lished. As noted, it is the most junior of the orders of chiv-alry intended to reward valuable services to the State in waror peacetime, the motto of the Orders is ‘For God and theEmpire”. Within the Order, there are five classes of mem-bers, Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight of DameCommander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE)and Member (MBE). Among those who were simultaneously recognized alongwith the Senator Dahlton Asemota (OBE) were then Lt. Col.(later Major General) JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi (MBE) who wouldlater become Nigeria’s Head of State in 1966), and JacobEgharevba, Esq (MBE) former Curator of the Benin Mu-seum. DAHLTON ASEMOTA, THE MIDWEST MOVE-MENT, AND LEGISLATIVE INITIARIVE As previously noted, in addition to being the Chairman ofthe Midwest Advisory Council (beginning in 1958), SenatorAsemota was the first Chairman Midwest United Front Com-mittee (UFC) and the first Chairman Midwest Planning Com-mittee (MPC). He played a crucial role (among others) in thebehind the scenes legislative maneuvering for unity in thecreation of the Midwest. A detail that must be emphasized is that in addition to othercrucial dynamics, without the tacit cooperation of certainelements within the ruling Action Group party in the west-ern region, the creation of the Midwest may well have beenimpossible. A determined efforts was, therefore, necessary tode-emphasized party politics in what strategists like SenatorDahlton Asemota (OBE) aptly called a “national dream” ir-respective of party affiliation. Although he was a member of the Action Group party, forexample, no amount of party inducement would make himturn his people. The MPC comprised elements of the coreMidwest movement, the NCNC, along with other parties likethe AG and UPP. In fact the next scheduled meeting of theMPC (pre-empted by the sudden death of Dahlton) hadplanned to discuss the structure of the Midwest interim ad-ministration. MEMBERS OF THE MIDWEST PLANNING COM-MITTEE (SPECIAL COMMITTEE) MARCH 1963UNDER DAHLTON ASEMOTAHon. Senator Dahlton Asemota (Chairman)Chief Hon. FS Okotie-EbohChief Hon. DC Osadebe Chief JIG Onyia Chief TEA Salubi Mr. EB. Edun Fregene Apostle J. Edokpolo Alhaji Chief Ja Isuman Chief AO Obasuyi

Dr. C. Okojie Chief JO Odiete Mr. JAP Oki Mr. GM Boyo Chief Hon. SJ Mariere (JP) Chief AY Eke Hon. Kessington SY MomohThe main legislative events were as follows: 1961 First Midwest motion 1962 Second Midwest motion Referendum Bill Midwest Parliamentary BillIn order to do justice to this account, I shall now quote exten-sively from a previous paper I delivered eleven years ago (onFriday, December 20, 2002) at the Oba Akenzua 11 CulturalComplex, Airport Road, Benin City on occasion of the fifthLate Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwadiae Egharevba (MBE) MemorialLecture and Award Ceremony. http//www. Waado.org/nigerdelta/ethnichistories/egharevbalectures/fifth-omoigui.htm)

1960 As was the case in previous years, 1060 was full of action,for and against the creation of the Midwest, including falseand real hopes and intrigue. Isuman JU. Facts about theMidwest state. Amalgamated press. On July 7th, the Oni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, becamethe Governor of the western region while the Alake ofAbeokuta became the President of the House of Chiefs. ChiefOmo-Osagie wasted no time in making a public statementabout the development. Oba Akenzua 11, who had beengenerally snubbed and cut off from many day to day deci-sions in the ministry of Midwest Affairs except his approvalwas important to some Machiavellian scheme of the other,finally had enough. Independence was approaching and theMidwest region had still not been created. The post-inde-pendence federal government was going to be formed by theNCNC and the NPC. The vast majority of the federal legis-lators from Midwest belonged to the NCNC, Therefore, theOba decided to abandon the Action group, resigning his po-sition as a Minister without portfolio. By so doing, he re-aligned the traditional establishment with the “new elite”for the final push to secure the Midwest. But shortly after he did so, the action group won 15 of 30seats from the Midwest in the Western House elections ofAugust 8, 1960, even barely beating an Out-Edo candidatein Benin as well as Prince Shaka Momodu in Irrua, in whatwas regarded as an upset, perhaps influenced by manipula-tion of the 1959 voter’s register. This outcome emboldenedcreation of the Midwest until after the 1964 federal electionswhen they would be in power at the center-although theykept up pressure for creation of the Calabar-Ogoja-Riversand Middle Belt States in other region, meanwhile, Barris-ter S.O Ighodaro had taken over the Ministry of MidwestAffairs from Anthony Enahoro, when the latter elected to gofederal, having lost out to SLA Akintola who returned to the

West to succeed Awolowo as the Premier. The 1960 constitution specified that for a referendum totake place seeking to establish support for a new region, two-thirds majority must approve it in the Federal House of Rep-resentatives and Senate, followed by majority approval intwo-thirds of regions. Recognizing the key role whichthe governing party in the federal government in Lagos wouldhave in initiating any legislative move toward the creationof the Midwest, Festus Okotie-Eboh and his mentor,Humphrey Omo-Osagie, were busy lobbying got northernleaders. Eventually Festus Okotie-Eboh almost singlehandedly got Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu and AlhajiAhmadu Bello of the NPC to agree in principle to make anexception for the Midwest based on its unique history, know-ing they were generally opposed to states creation. Withoutthis crucial achievement on the part of chief Okotie-Eboh,the creation of the Midwest would have been dead in thewater. It was in recognition of this strategic feat that FestusOkotie-Eboh was given a chieftaincy title in Benin, theElaba of Uselu. Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie, the indefati-gable fighter with whom Oba Akenzua 11 had his ups anddowns but whose firm resolve and loyalty to his people had

stood the test of time, was conferred with the title of Iyase ofBenin. (Egharevba, Op Cit.). The Action Group Western re-gion government, however, refused to confirm both titles until1962 when there was an emergency administration in officeat Ibadan. Nevertheless, the Akintola government in Ibadan movedquickly to consolidate its gains. It appointed many Midwest-erners to ministerial position, created a Midwest minorityarea and advisory council, and reorganized its administra-tive structure to create six new regional conference, as if intacit recognition of the six regions it was canvassing for thecountry. Chief Anthony Enahoro became the Chairman ofthe Midwest regional executive. Which did not include Akoko-Edo district and Warri division. Dalton Ogieva Asemota, awell known independent, distinguished retired from theUnited African Company (UAC), personal friend of ObaAkenzua 11 and first Chairman of the Midwest AdvisoryCouncil, become appointed by the Western region as the firstpost-independence Senator from Benin Province in Lagos,while Senator M.G. Ejaife, a householed name in Urhoboland, was appointed torepresent the Delta. Dennis Osadebay, leader of the Midwest State movement,left Ibadan for Lagos to take up his new position as SenatePresident, to replace Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who had becomethe Governor-General. Chief Festus Okotie- Eboh Becamethe Federal Minister of Finance and leader of the parliamen-tary party. The straight shooting Michael Opara replacedNnamdi Azikiwe as Premier of the Eastern region region andleader of the NCNC. Alhaji Tafawa Balewa of the NPC be-came the Prime Minister. Alhaji Ahmadu Belo held fort inthe Northern region.DAHLTON OGIEVA ASEMOTA APPOINTED OFFICEROF THE CIVIL DIVISION OF THE MOST EXCELLENT

“A detail that must be emphasized is that in addition to other cru-cial dynamics, without the tacit cooperation of certain elements withinthe ruling Action Group party in the western region, the creation ofthe Midwest may well have been impossible. A determined effortswas, therefore, necessary to de-emphasized party politics in whatstrategists like Senator Dahlton Asemota (OBE) aptly called a “na-tional dream” irrespective of party affiliation.”

2 2 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Politics

Towards SustainableDemocracy In Nigeria

By ADAMS OYIBOKE THE Nigerian nation istoday faced with one of itsgreatest challenges in this21st Century. The challenge is no doubtdaunting in that the nationhas finally gotten that de-mocracy which majority ofNigerians craved for almostthree decades ago. However, Nigerians arestill uncertain whether thedemocracy commenced inNigeria on 12th June, 1993or may 29 1999. Never-theless, acquiring democ-racy is one thing and main-taining and sustaining it isanother. The human entity knownas Nigeria formally got herindependence from the Brit-ish colonialists on 1st Octo-ber 1960 through the untir-ing efforts of our foundingfathers. The likes of Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe, AlhajiTafawa Balewa, HerbertMacaulay, the Sarduna ofSokoto, Chief ObafemiAwolowo, Chief AnthonyEnahoro amongst otherswere instrumental to bring-ing down the British flagthat ushered in political in-dependence. No sooner hadthe democratic experimentof the first republic been al-lowed to flourish than it wasscuttled through militaryputsch on the 15th January,1966, Two other attempts atdemocratic culture in thecountry in December 1983and November 1993 follow-ing the election of LateM.K.O Abiola of SocialDemocratic Party (SDP)

and Alhaji Bashir Tofa ofNational Republican Con-vention (NRC) were by mili-tary. Hence Nigeria and in-deed Nigerians have spentthe greater part of their po-litical independence yearsunder the jack-boot of the“Khaki boys.” Little wonder then that themajority of Nigerians wereso enthusiastic about the re-turn of the country to demo-cratic governance on 29th

May, 1999 by the regime ofGen. Abdulsalami Abubakar(rtd). Thus, ushering in an-other republic under theleadership of ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo, - theman who was saddle withthe challenges of sustainingNigerians fourth attempt atdemocratic practices. Well, the high level of un-employment stamping thefaces of Nigerian youths, thelocomotive structure of thepostal services, the unstablevalue of Nigeria currency inrelations to the Dollars,Pounds and Euros, the epi-leptic supply of electricity,high level of corruption andthe dysfunctional refineriesamongst others could besome of the institutionalframework that maintainedand sustained Nigeria demo-cratic government in the lasttwo and half decades, I sup-pose or what do you think? The term democracy hasvaried meanings so long asdifferent people are engagedin discussing, practicing and

analysing it. It is not surpris-ing that even some militaryregimes elsewhere had onceclaimed to be democratic.Moreover, the concept itselfhas gradually changed itsclassical Greek meaning toa modern understanding ofdemocracy. Thus, the el-

ementary meaning of theconcept as “government ofthe people, for the peopleand by the people,” viewedfrom the political economistlens, emphasis is placed onthe economic empowermentof the greater number ofpeople as a sine-qua-non forpolitical stability and sus-tainable democracy. It is pertinent to take a

critical look from the politi-cal economy perspective atthose tendencies that havebeen observed to be at vari-ance with democratic ethicsand which had often contrib-uted in no small measure tothe miniature growth in al-most three decades ago. To state that the countryhas been so blessed by the

Almighty with rich humanand natural resources wouldbe stating the obvious. How-ever, whether these havebeen used to better the lotsof Nigerian Youth and theentire citizenry is the mil-lion-naira question. This is because, the privi-lege few have appropriatedto themselves, the nation’swealth through high scale

corruption, embezzlement,misappropriation, Misman-agement and incompetencein public affairs to the totalexclusion of the ordinarymasses. Today, the bourgeoisoppressors are found in ev-ery nook and cranny of thiscountry, so also are the op-pressed masses. It is no won-der then that while the richof this country gets richer,the poor gets poorer througha well orchestrated eco-nomic deprivation policy. Democracy entails pro-tecting citizen’s rights; bethey social, political, or eco-

nomic. Economic security isat the root of all other rights. This is why the Marxistpolitical economists wouldwant us to believe that theeconomy is the “base” uponwhich, lies the super struc-ture. In other words, the na-ture of a country’s economywould to a great extent, de-termine its legal system,moral values, political life,religious belief and ideology. Show me a country thatdoes not cater for its youths,that careless for the eco-nomic well-being of its citi-zens, that ill-gotten wealth isflaunt recklessly withoutraising an eyebrow and I willshow you a society in decay,an unstable economic/politi-cal index. Unless concrete and urgent

steps are taken to address thehigh rate of unemployment,Boko-Haram insurgency,kidnapping, assassination,rape, citizen productive ca-pacity enhanced through le-gal institutional and attitudi-nal approach, poverty alle-viation programmes such asNAPEP, SURE-P, N.D.E.initiated and implemented tothe letter, so as to economi-cally empower the greaternumber of the people andabove all, invest heavily inthe Agriculture and Educa-tion Sectors to improve andsustain human development,

the present democratic insti-tution which will wound uptwo years from now wouldbe under threat of social un-rest, economic insecurityand political instability. The masses will continueto express their resentmentto the existing status-quothrough violent crimes, com-munal clashes, students’cultism, ethnic and religiousintolerance, political thug-gery etc which are the effectsof political alienation, op-pression and subjugation.The antidote is simple: em-power the masses, especiallythe unemployed youths andsetting up social insurancescheme for the aged by en-suring that the wide gap ex-isting between the rich andthe poor is narrowed.

“Well, the high level of unemployment stamping the faces of Nigerianyouths, the locomotive structure of the postal services, the unstable valueof Nigeria currency in relations to the Dollars, Pounds and Euros, theepileptic supply of electricity, high level of corruption and the dysfunc-tional refineries amongst others could be some of the institutional frame-work that maintained and sustained Nigeria democratic government inthe last two and half decades, I suppose or what do you think?”

2 3 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Reflection

Be Generous As TheWorld Marks Donor’s Day

WithREV. FR. JOHN DAMIAN ADIZIE

I never knew the importanceof blood donation until one daywhile I was traveling alongEnugu-Umuahia high way. Aswe were approaching Enugu, a504 salon car right in front ofus had a ghastly accident. Twoof the men in the car were badlyinjured. They were bleeding allover their body. We rushed themto a nearby hospital. Afterdressing the wounds the doctorrequested for blood. Unfortu-nately, none of their familymembers were around to donatethe required blood. One of thenurses announced that they stillhave two pants of blood in theirblood banks. Luckily for them,it was exactly the same bloodgroup they were looking for.

As I was driving home, I waswondering, what if there was nosingle blood in the hospital;what would have happened tothese patients? I further askedmyself who must have donatedthis blood? Does the donorknow that he or she has justsaved people’s lives? Anotherthought came to me, which Irejected, ‘what if I was the oneinvolved in this accident and inneed of blood?’

This last thought may soundunrealistic but without the graceof God, every traveler is a po-tential victim of accident. No-body prays for accident but pre-vention is better than cure. Un-fortunately, Nigerians do notknow the importance of FirstAid box how much more theimportance of blood donation.Yet, these are some of the thingsthat could help in the case ofemergency.

June 14th is celebrated annu-ally as the World Donor’s Day.A day set aside by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) toraise global awareness on theimportance of human blood, thelife-saving nature of humanblood. It is a day to campaignfor voluntary donation of blood.World Donor’s Day is also a dayto enlighten people on the kindof food and fruit they shouldtake to improve the quality oftheir blood and health.

Why must we donate blood?What are the benefits of blooddonation and what are the pos-sible side effects?

Blood is the principle of life.The gift of blood is the gift oflife. Donation of blood is indeeda life-saving venture. Accordingto medical practitioners and re-lated studies, excessive ironcontributes to heart disease,especially at its early stages.

Donating blood on a regularbasis reduces the iron stores inthe body; hence, it purifies andpreserves the heart and vascu-lar health. It reduces blood cho-lesterol level, the number ofblood cells in our body de-creases. This stimulates thebone marrow to produce new,fresh red blood cells in order toreplenish the loss. By donatingblood you are not just perform-ing a charitable act you are alsodoing your own body good.

Blood transfusion requiresproper care and attention. Ifproper care is not taken people’sdiseases and viruses can easilybe transferred to others. That iswhy it is recommended thatproper screening must be car-ried out before blood transfu-sion. There may be cases ofblood incompatibility; the bloodgroup must be dictated beforetransfusion. Donor may experi-ence mild dizziness for a shortwhile.

In view of this, it is highlyrecommended that before do-nating blood, you must ensurethat you are healthy; that is, youmust feel well and can performnormal activities. You must beat least 17 years old and weigh110 pounds and above. You arenot expected to donate bloodwithout the required interval,for instance, after donatingblood you must stay at least 8weeks before donating anotherblood. If you have a chronicsickness such as high bloodpressure, HIV, infection, diabe-tes and other transmitted dis-eases you are not expected todonate blood. You can only givewhat you have and you must behealthy to donate blood to oth-ers. The donor must undergo abrief examination during whichtemperature, pulse, blood pres-sure and blood count are mea-sured.

Today, as the world celebratesworld donor’s day I want to usethis medium to reflect on theimportance of donation and gen-erosity. I considered generositybecause it takes a generousheart to donate his or her blood.Without the spirit of generosityno one can donate his or herblood for others. Donation isindeed the fruit of generosity.A generous heart is a heart that

donates. A heart that donates isa heart is blessed.

A lot of people have madesacrifices for you to be whereyou are today. A woman donatedher womb, her time, her plea-sure, her money and even herblood, for you to be alive today.Without her generosity you can-not exist in this world. Ourmothers are the first and mostgenerous people in the world.They are not only generous tous; they taught us how to begenerous. Any time you remem-

ber the generosity of yourmother and people around you,you are invited to donate some-thing that could affect otherpeople’s life positively. It couldbe your womb, your money,your blood or even your kidney.Whatever you can do to savepeople’s life, kindly do so!

One of the passages that en-courages blood and organ dona-tion is the book of Genesischapter 2:21-23 where Godmade Adam to donate his rib forthe creation of a woman: Ac-cording to this passage, “TheLord God caused a deep sleep

to fall upon the man, and whilehe slept he took one of his ribsand closed up its place withflesh. And the rib that the LordGod had taken from the man hemade into a woman and broughther to the man. Then the mansaid, “This, at last, is bone ofmy bones and flesh of my flesh;she shall be called Woman, be-cause she was taken out ofman.”” God would have createdwoman separately but to teachus the importance of organ andblood donation he decided to

take the rib of Adam withoutdestroying Adam.

In the New Testament, Godthe Father donated his only be-gotten Son: “For God so lovedthe world that He gave (do-nated) his only begotten Son,that whoever believes in himshould not perish but have eter-nal life” (John 3:16). Here weare not just talking about a par-ticular organ or a pant of bloodbut an entire life of an only be-gotten Son. God is the best do-nor you can think of. God do-nated his only son for the sal-vation of the world.

The greatest act of love, ac-cording Jesus Christ, is a self-giving and life-saving love:“Greater love has no man thanthis that a man lay down his lifefor his friends” (John 15:13).That was exactly what Jesus didfor his followers. He sacrificedhis time, his food, his preciousblood and even his life for hisfriends. The Prophet Isaiah said,by the wound of our Lord JesusChrist we are healed (Isaiah53:5). Jesus was wounded forour transgression.

Jesus used many parables toteach his followers the impor-tance of donation and life-sav-ing sacrifices. For instance, inthe Parable of the Good Samari-tan, where he told the story of aman who was beaten up by rob-bers. This Samaritan saw thisman and had compassion onhim. He went to him and boundup his wounds, poured oil andwine; then brought him to aninn, and took proper care ofhim. He donated his money. Hepaid two denarii to the inn-keeper, saying, “Take care ofhim; and whatever more youspend, I will repay you when Icome back” (Luke 10:30-35).Remember, this Samaritandoesn’t even know the man hehelped. You don’t need to knowthe people who will benefitfrom the blood that you donate.It could even be your enemy.

Jesus taught his followers tolove and pray for their enemies.“You have heard that it was

said, ‘You shall love yourneighbour and hate your enemy.But I say to you, love your en-emies and pray for those whopersecute you. So that you maybe sons of your Father who isin heaven; for he makes his sunrise on the evil and on the good,and sends rain on the just andon the unjust” (Matthew 5:43-45). If we must love and prayfor our enemies, as Jesus taught,then we should also be ready todonate our blood for whoevermay be the beneficiary whetherour friends or our enemies.

In addition to the teachings ofour Lord Jesus Christ, theSaints also taught the impor-tance of generosity. The writerof the Book of Hebrew encour-

ages us to show hospitality tostrangers, “Do not neglect toshow hospitality to strangers, forthereby some have entertainedangels unawares. Rememberthose who are in prison, asthough in prison with them”(Hebrew 13:2-3). In Genesis18:9-15, Abraham receivedstrangers not knowing they wereangels of God. As they wereabout to depart they assuredAbraham that his barren wifeSarah will bear him a Son.

You will never regret any actof generosity. Directly or indi-rectly you will be rewarded.Remember, givers never lack.According to St. Francis ofAssisi, the mentor of our presentPope, “It is in giving that wereceive.” You cannot be a goodreceiver if you are not a goodgiver. God loves a cheerfulgiver. It is only in giving and incaring that we can make thisworld a better place – for youand for me.

“Today, as the world celebrates world donor’s day I want to use this me-dium to reflect on the importance of donation and generosity. I consideredgenerosity because it takes a generous heart to donate his or her blood.Without the spirit of generosity no one can donate his or her blood forothers. Donation is indeed the fruit of generosity. A generous heart is aheart that donates. A heart that donates is a heart is blessed.”

2 4 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

International WithOKHUELEIGBE FAITH

Nearly 95,000 Killed In SyrianConflict - UN

Protesters dance in Gezi park in Istanbul’s Taksim square early June.

This photo released on the official Facebook page of Syrian President Bashar Assad, shows Syrian president BasharAssad working in his office, in Damascus, Syria,

Turkish Protesters Party In SquareDespite Ruling Party Calls

Ehiopia Ratifies NileAccord Opposed By Egypt

GENEVA (Switzerland) -The death toll in Syria reachedat least 93,000 at the end ofApril, but the true number ofvictims from the violence nowin its third year may be muchhigher, the United Nations hu-man rights office said yesterday.

Navi Pillay, U.N. Commis-sioner for Human Rights,voiced fears that the bloodshedin recent battles for the Syrianborder town of Qusair would berepeated in the northern city ofAleppo.

“All the reports I’m receivingare of augmentation of re-sources and forces (for anAleppo offensive) on the part ofthe government,” Pillay toldReuters Television.

The military balance hasshifted in President Bashar al-Assad’s favour in the last two

months, with Lebanon’s Shi’iteHezbollah fighting openlyalongside the Syrian military,helping it to recapture Qusairfrom rebels on June 5. Rebelforces have held parts ofAleppo, Syria’s biggest city,since July.

The new U.N. figure of93,000 people killed in the Syr-ian conflict, which began withpeaceful protests against Assadin March 2011 and turned intoan armed rebellion a fewmonths later, replaces a U.N.estimate of 80,000 issued inmid-May.

The U.N. report said almost38,000 reported killings hadbeen excluded because records

- which require the victim’s fullname and date and location ofdeath - were incomplete.

“The true number of thosekilled is potentially muchhigher,” Pillay said.

The death toll has averagedmore than 5,000 a month sinceJuly, and Pillay said this re-flected the “drastically deterio-rating pattern of the conflictover the past year”.

The Damascus region, Homsand Aleppo have been hardesthit.

The U.N. figures, based ondata from the Syrian govern-ment and seven human rightsmonitoring groups, include ci-vilians and combatants, but giveno breakdown. They show that

at least 6,561 children wereamong the dead.

“There are also well-docu-mented cases of individual chil-dren being tortured and ex-ecuted, and entire families, in-cluding babies, being massa-cred - which, along with thisdevastatingly high death toll, isa terrible reminder of just howvicious this conflict has be-come,” Pillay said.

One of the monitoring groups,the British-based, pro-opposi-tion Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights, said yesterdayit had now confirmed at least98,000 deaths in the conflict,but that the total figure couldexceed 130,000.

It said the confirmed toll in-cluded 25,040 Syrian soldiersand security personnel, and

ISTANBUL/ANKARA -Hundreds of anti-governmentdemonstrators chanted and sangin Istanbul’s Taksim Squareearly yesterday after PrimeMinister Tayyip Erdogan’s AKparty floated the offer of a ref-erendum on development plansthat stirred two weeks of pro-tests.

The night passed peacefully,with young men playing socceron the square at dawn, after sev-eral days of fierce clashes be-tween police and protesters op-posed to Erdogan. But it was notclear if the referendum offerwould quell protests.

The pro-government Starnewspaper declared in a frontpage headline: “The way out isa referendum”.

Egypt and Sudan.A 10-person Egypt-Sudan-

Ethiopia experts panel con-cluded that the dam will not“significantly affect” water flowto Egypt and Sudan, accordingto Ethiopian officials. Sudansaid it accepts the outcome ofthe finding and this week an-nounced that it supports Ethio-pia’s project.

Ethiopia’s 547-member par-liament unanimously endorsedthe new Nile River CooperativeFramework Agreement, an ac-cord already signed by fiveother Nile River countries.

The accord, sometimes re-ferred to as the Entebbe Agree-ment, is the product of decade-long negotiations. It was con-ceived to replace the 1929 treatywritten by Britain that awardedEgypt veto power over upstreamcountries’ Nile projects. Sudanand Egypt signed a deal in 1959splitting the Nile waters be-tween them without givingother countries consideration.

The new cooperative agree-ment signed by Ethiopia,Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda,Kenya and Burundi ó aims toestablish a commission to over-see Nile projects. Congo andSouth Sudan, which succeededfrom Sudan in 2011, have an-nounced plans to join the newpact. Eritrea is participating asan observer in the 10-nationNile Basin Initiative.

“Referendum game”, saidCumhuriyet newspaper, whichis fiercely critical of Erdogan,whom it portrays as an increas-ingly authoritarian figure inTurkish politics.

The deputy chairman ofErdogan’s ruling AK Party,Huseyin Celik, said late onWednesday that the protestersshould withdraw from GeziPark, a leafy corner of thesquare where they have set upa ramshackle settlement oftents.

At the same time, he made aconcession by offering a refer-endum on the redevelopmentplans for the square that firststirred the unrest.

A heavy-handed police crack-down on Gezi Park nearly twoweeks ago triggered an unprec-edented wave of protest againstErdogan and his AK Party - anassociation of centrists and con-servative religious elements -drawing in secularists, nation-alists, professionals, unionistsand students.

Riot police looked on fromthe fringes as crowds mingledlate into the night, someprotesters chanting and danc-ing, others applauding a concertpianist who took up residencewith a grand piano in the

middle of the square.It was a contrast to the scene

24 hours earlier, when tear gassent thousands scurrying intoside streets before authoritiesbulldozed barricades and reo-pened the square to traffic forthe first time since the troublesbegan.

“The government can’t acceptthese protests going on forever,”Celik told a news conference inthe capital Ankara following ameeting between Erdogan anda group of public figures linkedto the Gezi protesters.

“Those with bad intentions orwho seek to provoke and remainin the park will (now) be facingthe police,” he said.

Police fired tear gas and wa-ter cannon day after day in cit-ies including Ankara last week.Three people, one a policeman,died and about 5,000 thousandpeople were injured, accordingto the Turkish Medical Associa-tion.

The offer to hold a referen-dum on the park redevelopmentis one of the only concessionsthe authorities have publiclyfloated after days of firmrhetoric from Erdogan refusingto back down. Celik gave fewdetails of how a referendumwould be carried out, saying itcould either be held acrossIstanbul, or just in the districtnear Taksim.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -Ethiopia’s parliament yesterdayratified an accord that replacescolonial-era deals that awardedEgypt and Sudan the majorityof the world’s longest river.

The vote comes amid a boutof verbal jousting betweenEthiopia and Egypt after Ethio-pia last month started to divertNile waters for a massive $4.2billion hydro-electric damdubbed the Grand EthiopianRenaissance Dam.

Ethiopia’s growing economyfrequently suffers from powercuts and needs more electricalcapacity. But Egypt fears thedam will mean a diminishedshare of the Nile, which pro-vides almost all of the desert na-tion’s water needs.

Egyptian politicians have sug-gested attacks against Ethiopiato sabotage the dam, and Egyp-tian President MohammedMorsi on Monday warned that“all options are open” to chal-lenge Ethiopia’s Nile project.

Ethiopian Prime MinisterHailemariam Desalegn re-sponded Tuesday, forcefullyvowing “nothing” and “no one”will stop the dam’s construc-tion. He downplayed the pros-pect of conflict, saying Egyptleaders won’t go to war unlessthey “go mad.”

African Union headNkosazana Dlamini Zuma onWednesday urged dialogue andcooperation between Ethiopia,

2 5 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

InternationalZimbabwe President SaysElection Set For July 31

WithOKHUELEIGBE FAITH

USA: 360-Plus Homes Destroyed In

Wildfire

Former Iranian President Opposes ElectionBoycott

Mandela Spend 6th Day In Hospital

The longtime president heis abiding by a court rulingcalling for the vote to goahead.

Tsvangirai claims the law-suit was instigated byMugabe’s loyalists eager forearly polls so that they cantake advantage of loopholesin the electoral laws to rigthe vote.

Prime Minister MorganTsvangirai said yesterdaythat Mugabe should haveshown “mere courtesy” byconsulting him on the issue.

Mugabe was forced by re-gional leaders to form a coa-lition government withformer opposition leaderTsvangirai after violent anddisputed elections in 2008.

HARARE - Zimbabwe’sprime minister says has re-ceived a letter from the Presi-dent Robert Mugabe sayingelections will go ahead onJuly 31.

The communication is thelatest development in astandoff between the twoleaders over when to hold thelong-awaited vote.

COLORADO SPRINGSUSA - A wildfire burning north-east of Colorado Springs hasdestroyed at least 360 homes,making it the most destructivein state history.

El Paso County sheriff TerryMaketa said yesterday thatdeputies still haven’t been ableto verify the condition of 79homes as the wildfire continuesto burn. So it’s possible the fig-ure could rise even higher.

The fire is burning nearwhere the Waldo Canyon fireburned 347 homes last year andkilled two people. It waspreviously the most destructivein Colorado history.

Fueled by hot temperatures,changing gusts, and thick, bone-dry forests, the Black ForestFire earlier prompted evacua-tion orders and pre-evacuationnotices to more than 9,000people and to about 3,500homes and businesses, sheriff’sofficials said.

Jaenette Coyne was one ofthose ordered to get out asquickly as possible.

Coyne estimates she had fiveminutes to leave home aftercalling 911 to report smokebehind her home. There was notime to grab wedding albums,fingerprint artwork by her 20-month-old daughter, quilts hergrandmother made, her family’sthree cats.

“We left with nothing,” shesaid.

She and her husband laterwatched on television this week

as flames engulfed their house.“I don’t know how to tell you

in words what it felt like,” shesaid. “It’s the worst thing I’veever felt in my whole life.”

Part of neighboring ElbertCounty, including two campswith a total of about 1,250 chil-dren and adults, also was evacu-ated.

No injuries or deaths havebeen reported, but Maketa saidofficials are trying to confirmthe whereabouts of one personreported missing. The causewasn’t clear.

The fire was among severalthat surged rapidly Tuesdayalong Colorado’s Front Range.Wildfires also were burning inNew Mexico, Oregon and Cali-fornia, where a smokejumperwas killed fighting one of doz-ens of lightning-sparked fires.

The U.S. Forest Service onWednesday mobilized a pair ofDefense Department cargoplanes to help ó a step takenonly when all of the ForestService’s 12 contracted tankers

are in use. At least one wasfighting the Black Forest Fire.

About 60 miles southwest ofColorado’s Black Forest Fire, a4.5-square-mile wildfire thatevacuated Royal Gorge Bridge& Park has destroyed 20 struc-tures, including some in thepark.

The Royal Gorge suspensionbridge spanning a canyon acrossthe Arkansas River has firedamage to 32 of its 1,292wooden planks, city officialssaid. An aerial tram car andtram buildings on either side ofthe gorge were destroyed, andthe tram cable fell into thegorge. An incline railwaydescending 1,500 feet to thecanyon floor was damaged.

Another fire sparked by light-ning Monday in Rocky Moun-tain National Park has grown toan estimated 600 acres in areawith trees killed by pine bee-tles.

Gov. John Hickenlooper hasdeclared disaster emergenciesfor the Black Forest and RoyalGorge fires and a 60-acre firein rural Huerfano County, au-thorizing a combined $10.15million to help pay forfirefighting and other costs.

JOHANNESBURG -Former South African Presi-dent Nelson Mandela isspending a sixth day in thehospital.

There was no immediateupdate on his health yester-day, but President JacobZuma on Wednesday re-ported that Mandela was re-sponding better to treatmentfor a recurring lung infec-

Friday’s election, despite theapparent rising profile of mod-erate candidate HasanRowhani, a former nuclear ne-gotiator.

The boycott drive seeks tomount a symbolic rebuke toIran’s ruling system after yearsof arrests and pressures againstopposition forces since the dis-puted re-election in 2009 ofPresident MahmoudAhmadinejad. Iran’s constitu-tion bars Ahmadinejad fromrunning for a third consecutiveterm, though he could run in the

ger over his exclusion from therace.

The appeal by former Presi-dent Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjanicame in response to persistentcalls by many among reform-minded voters to stay away from

future.But a significant snub of the

voting would most likely hurtRowhani, who has been backedby his close ally Rafsanjani andother reformist leaders. Hisother rivals include hardlinersor conservatives seen as favoredby the ruling theocracy.

Rafsanjani’s stature rosesharply with liberals after hecriticized hard-line tactics usedin the unprecedentedpostelection clashes and dem-onstrations four years ago. Op-position leader Mir HosseinMousavi, who challenged

Ahmadinejad in the 2009 elec-tion, and another reform-lean-ing candidate, Mahdi Karroubi,have been under house arrestfor more than two years.

Reports yesterday by severalpro-reform newspapers, includ-ing the Etemad daily, quotedRafsanjani as saying that peo-ple “should not boycott” thevote.

“I urge them to vote,” he wasquoted as saying.

On Wednesday, thousands ofsupporters welcomed Rowhaniin the northeastern city ofMashhad chanting: “Long livereforms.”

tion.Grandson Mandla

Mandela said Wednesdaythat the family is apprecia-tive of the support it has re-ceived from around theworld.

The leader of South Afri-ca’s anti-apartheid move-ment, Mandela spent 27years in prison during whiteracist rule. He was freed in

1990 and became South Af-rica’s first black president in1994.

Mandela’s official Twitterfeed noted that yesterday wasthe 49th anniversary of theformer president’s arrival atRobben Island, the prison offthe coast of Cape Townwhere he spent the majorityof his incarceration.

TEHRAN - On the eve ofIran’s presidential elections, aformer Iranian presidentblocked from a comeback bidurged voters yesterday not toboycott the vote in protest overcrackdowns on dissent or in an-

Police officers are on parade as President Robert Mugabe inspects the guard of honour,at a police pass-out parade in Harare,

Supporters of the Iranian presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani, former Iranian nu-clear negotiator, chant slogans, as they hold a banner containing pictures of Rowhani,center, former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, right, and Mohammad Khatami,during a street campaign, in Tehran, Iran,

Former Miss Ruth Eigbiremolen (right) tied the nuptial knot with Mr. Godfrey Emiantoron Friday May 3, 2013 according to Esan Native Law and Customs at the Bride’s familycompound at Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State. Congrats.Courtesy: Mr. & Mrs. Tunde Eigbiremolen.

2 6 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Egyptian Pilots End Protest

International

Czech Police Detain Prime Minister’s Aide

Compiled by

FAITH OKHUELEIGBE

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, is greeted by Italian Premier Enrico Letta,upon his arrival at Rome’s Chigi government palace.

Israel Moving Ahead With New Settler Housing

Newly sworn-in Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah heads his first cabinetmeeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah .

EU Condemns Jailing OfTopless Feminists In Tunisia

PRAGUE - Police fromthe Czech Republic’sorganized crime unityesterday detained a senioraide to Prime Minister PetrNecas, local media reported,in raids on severalgovernment offices that wereconfirmed by police andministry officials.

Necas himself was visited

by the head of the police unitand two state attorneys,Interior Minister Jan Kubicetold parliament, but thepurpose of the visit was notclear.

Kubice said the visit was“in connection with a step inthe criminal proceedings”.He gave no further details.

A spokesman for thepolice’s organized crime unitconfirmed that the unit wasinvolved in an operation butrefused to provide anydetails.

But Czech Television andthe online version of thelargest Czech mainstreamdaily Mlada fronta Dnes saidthe head of Necas’s officeJana Nagyova was arrested inthe raids.

A detention of a close aidewould be a serious blow tothe prime minister, whosecentre-right government doesnot have a stable majority in

parliament and has nearlycollapsed several times sinceNecas was elected to the jobin 2010.

Government headquarterswould not transfer telephonecalls to her office.

Police were present at thedefense ministry, aspokeswoman there said, andPrague city hall saiddetectives had taken awayunspecified documents.There were also searches atthe offices of two politically-linked businessmen, localmedia said.

Czech media reported thatthe police raids started onWednesday night and werestill underway yesterday.

Parliament had interruptedits yesterday session to seekclarification about what washappening.

President Milos Zeman’soffice said he would meetNecas, the national police

chief and the head of theopposition centre-left SocialDemocrats to discuss thesituation on Friday.

The Social Democratscalled a party leadershipmeeting for yesterdayafternoon to discuss nextsteps. A small oppositionparty immediately called foran early election.

The prime minister himselfmade no public appearancesyesterday and his spokesmanwas not answering histelephone.

The Czech republic was abeacon of liberty in the late1980s when former dissidentVaclav Havel led a VelvetRevolution againstCommunist rule. But sincethen successive governmentshave been dogged byaccusations and rumors ofcorruption — though nonehas ever led to high-profiletrials.

JERUSALEM —Israel is going ahead withplans to build more than1,000 settler homes in theWest Bank, a spokesmansaid yesterday, a step thatdrew criticism from the

Palestinians and may pose achallenge to peace efforts bySecretary of State JohnKerry.

Israeli militaryspokesman Maj. Guy Inbarsaid plans were advanced inthe past two weeks toconstruct homes in thesettlements of Itamar andBruchin. More than 1,000housing units are slated to bebuilt and nearly 200 existinghomes are expected to begranted official approvalthere.

The settlements weregiven preliminary approvallast year and theconstruction plans stillrequire official endorsementfollowing public appeals.Hagit Ofran, from the anti-settlement watchdog groupPeace Now, estimated thatconstruction could begin inabout a year, if approved.

An Israeli government

official downplayed thedevelopment, calling it partof a bureaucratic processand not an approval. Hespoke on condition ofanonymity because he wasnot authorized to discuss thehousing plans with themedia.

The move comes amidKerry’s ongoing efforts tocorral Israel and thePalestinians to return topeace talks, which havebeen stalled for nearly fiveyears. Kerry has beenshuttling between the sidesin recent months in hopes offinding a formula to restartnegotiations.

West Bank settlementbuilding lies at the heart ofthe current impasse innegotiations between Israeland the Palestinians, whocondemned the new step.

“It’s clear that there is anIsraeli escalation and it’s not

the first time that they dothis to challenge andembarrass the Americanadministration,” said NimrHamad, an adviser toPalestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas.

“The Palestinian positionis clear. The settlementactivities are illegal,”Hamad said.

The Palestinians refuse toresume talks with Israel aslong as it continues to buildin the West Bank and eastJerusalem, lands they claimas part of a future state,along with the Gaza Strip.Israel captured the territoriesin the 1967 Mideast war.

More than 500,000Israelis now live in Jewishsettlements in the West Bankand east Jerusalem, whichare considered illegal orillegitimate by theinternational community.

BRUSSELS - The EuropeanUnion said yesterday jailsentences handed down to threeEuropean feminist activists whostaged a topless protest inTunisia were too severe andurged the Islamist-ledgovernment to reform its laws onfreedom of expression.

A Tunisian court sentencedone German and two Frenchmembers of women’s rightsgroup Femen to four months inprison on Wednesday forindecency after they appearedtopless in the capital last month.

Marguerite Stern and PaulineHillier of France and JosephineMarkmann of Germany werecalling for the release of Tunisianfeminist activist Amina Tyler,who has been in detention sincemid-May.

“The EU is surprised by the

severity of the judgment,” aspokesman for EU foreign policychief Catherine Ashton said.

“To ensure ... freedom ofexpression, the EU underlinesthe need to revise laws inheritedfrom the previous regimes,which can be used to restrict it,”Michael Mann said.

Tyler, a Femen member,caused a storm of controversy inTunisia after she publishedtopless photographs of herself onFacebook with the words “Mybody belongs to me and not thehonor of others” written on herchest in Arabic.

The 18-year-old wasdemonstrating against the risingpresence of hardline IslamistSalafists in Tunisia that hasalarmed a secular elite who fearthis could undermine individualfreedoms, women’s rights and

democracy.The topless protests have

scandalized many in Tunisia, aMuslim country where publicnudity is not socially orreligiously acceptable.

Tyler was arrested in the townof Kairouan on May 19 after shewrote a feminist slogan on thewall of a mosque and tried tobare her breasts, on the same daythat the radical Islamist Ansar al-Sharia group was due to hold arally in the city.

CAIRO - Egyptianpilots working for thenational carrier staged a 10-hour sit-in protest yesterday,delaying 22 flights in aneffort to press their demandsfor management changesand bonus payments.

It was the second protestinvolving the CairoInternational Airport thismonth.

Egypt has been hit by awave of street rallies andstrikes in the two yearssince a popular uprisingtoppled Hosni Mubarak.The turmoil has fedgrowing economic andpolitical woes, often leavingthe country struggling toretain a semblance ofnormalcy.

An opposition youthmovement is planningmassive street protests laterthis month to demand theouster of Islamist PresidentMohammed Morsi.

Yesterday, EgyptAirpilots came to work buthung out at the mainterminal instead of takingtheir flights. The disruptedflights included both

domestic and international.Ahmed Younis, head of

the pilots’ association, saidthe protest ended after CivilAviation Minister Wael el-Maadawi held talks with theprotesters and agreed tomeet their demands forchanges in EgyptAir’s topmanagement and pay thebonuses proposed by thepilots.

On June 5, strikingworkers at the Cairo airportblocked airplanes on thetarmac at the hub’s largestterminal. They occupiedtaxiing areas near runways,forcing passengers to boardand disembark at theairport’s other terminal.

The strikers weredemanding better pay. Theprotest delayed thedeparture of seven flightsand diverted passengersfrom three incominginternational flights toanother terminal.

At the time, securityforces refused to interveneto remove the strikingworkers, arguing that sucha move would worsen thesituation and recommended

resolving the strike throughnegotiations.

And in May, EgyptAirbaggage handlers held astrike demanding bettersafety measures, which leftpassengers on 20international flights fromEuropean and Arabcountries waiting severalhours for luggage.

That strike was a protestafter a colleague died whena conveyer belt used tounload luggage fell on hishead. Co-workers said ittook more than an hour forthe ambulance to arrive atthe scene from the airport’sonsite hospital, a claimhospital officials denied.

2 7 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

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2 8 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Robson LamentsForeign Invasion

Monaco PlottingRonaldo Swoop

• Arouna Kone

Van Grinkel Coy On ChelseaMove

• Marco Van Grinkel

Sevilla Secure ManCity Friendly

ChelseaReach

Accord ForSchurrle

Deal

Utd Shares DropSignificantly

THE share price of Manches-ter United suffered a 9% hit inone day, with reports suggest-ing the club’s rumoured inter-est in Ezequiel Garay is toblame.

The Glazers bought United in2005

PA PhotosThe share price fallwas similar to the drop after SirAlex Ferguson announced hisretirement

pean Championships groupstages.

Having represented bothNewcastle and Sunderland dur-ing his playing career beforeperforming a number of differ-ent roles on Wearside, Robsonis already concerned at the earlysummer dealings of his formerclub.

“I fear it might happen thatSunderland will concentratesolely on the overseas market,”he said, after the club signed aquartet of players from main-land Europe this week.

“They might go for cheaperoptions, younger players, Euro-pean players, Croatians, Italians

CHELSEA target Marco vanGinkel says he wants to play inthe Premier League, but willnot make a decision on his fu-ture until after the EuropeanUnder-21 Championship.

The Vitesse Arnhem player’sagent, Karel Jansen, revealedon Tuesday that the Blues areone of a number of teams, along

NEWLY-promoted FrenchLigue 1 side Monaco are set tobe preparing a 100 million eurobid for Real Madrid’s CristianoRonaldo.

The Portuguese star is con-tracted to the Whites until 2015but so far he has not accepted anew deal from the club, whichhas fuelled a lot of speculationregarding his future.

His former club, ManchesterUnited, as well as French sideParis Saint-Germain have so farbeen tipped as his possible des-tination during the next trans-fer window or at the end of hiscontract.

However, Marca reports thatMonaco are now willing to flextheir financial muscle in a bidto lure the forward to the StadeLouis II.

The club is owned by Russianbillionaire Dmitry Rybolovlevand they have shown that theyare willing to spend money withthe acquisition of Radamel

SEVILLA will play twofriendly matches againstManchester City as part of thetransfer deal for Jesus Navas.

The winger recently com-pleted his move to the EtihadStadium but the Sevillistas willbenefit further by taking on theformer English champions.

“It has been an extraordinaryoperation. Even though it hasbeen a great deal, they havedemonstrated that they wantedhim,” Sevilla’s technical secre-tary Victor Orta told reporters.

“It is an impressive operation

EVERTON and Hull Cityare reportedly interested insigning Wigan Athletic strikerArouna Kone for a fee in theregion of £5 million.

Roberto Martinez hopes tobeat of interest from Hull, whoare keen to bolster their attackbefore they start life back in theEnglish Premier League.

Hull boss Steve Bruce hasalready had a bid rejected forGlasgow Celtic’s Gary Hooperand remains keen on Burnley’sCharlie Austin andGalatasarays’s JohanElmander.

Kone was a regular starterfor Wigan last season and theIvorian could be tempted tojoin up with his former man-ager at Goodison Park.

Chelsea forward VictorMoses, who played underMartinez at Wigan, has alsobeen linked with a move to theToffees.

CHELSEA have reached anagreement for the transfer ofBayer Leverkusen’s AndreSchurrle, subject to personalterms and the German passinga medical.

Schurrle is set to head straightto London to finalise the dealfollowing his release from in-ternational duty for Germany inthe USA

The 22-year-old is set to jointhe Europa League winners ina reported £20 million deal.

Bayer Leverkusen havesigned South Korean forwardSon Heung-min from HamburgSV to replace Schuerrle.

The 20-year-old Son, whowas outstanding last season,signed a five-year deal withLeverkusen, paving the way forSchuerrle’s much-expectedtransfer to Chelsea.

“We made it clear from thestart that a transfer of Schuerrleto Chelsea would only happenif an adequate sporting alterna-tive was possible,” said clubboss Wolfgang Holzhaeuser.

“This alternative was nowtaken under contract with SonHeung-Min and so there isnothing blocking AndreSchuerrle’s transfer from ourside.”

Schurrle has won 24 Germancaps, scoring seven goals. Hestarted his career at Mainz,scoring 20 goals in 65 appear-ances before moving toLeverkusen before the 2011–12season.

Versatile attacking midfielderSchuerrle scored 11 leaguegoals last season.

Everton,Hull

BattleFor Kone

United’s shares closed at$15.16 on Wednesday - a de-crease of $1.53 from just 24hours earlier.

The British media was aflurrywith stories of United reachingan agreement with Benfica forGaray on Wednesday and it isclaimed the rumours impactedshare activity, with holders pre-paring for a £17 million spendfrom the English champions.

Financial website Benzignaclaimed that “the large cash dis-bursement for the defender doesaffect Manchester United’s fi-nances, who only reported cashof $113m as of the last filing.”

It is believed United’s own-ers, the Glazer family, have a10% stake of the club listed onthe Stock Exchange.

The retirement of Sir AlexFerguson last month alsoproved a financial burden, witha 4.5% fall experienced shortlyafter the Scot’s announcement.

with Ajax, that are interested inhis client.

The 20-year-old is currentlyrepresenting Netherlands’ Un-der-21 side in the Israel tour-nament, although he was notinvolved during Wednesdaynight’s 3-0 defeat to Spain, a

result that confirmed the teamas runners-up in Group B.

Reports in Van Ginkel’shomeland claim that Chelseahave already agreed terms withthe youngster.

The midfielder, however, re-fuses to talk about his futureplans until Netherlands’ partici-pation in Israel comes to an end.

“The Premier League is a verygood league, I think every youngplayer wants to play there,” VanGinkel told Sky Sports NewsRadio. “I know what peoplewant to hear, but I’m not goingto say anything about that now.I have to focus on this tourna-ment. After that, I will thinkabout my future - not now.”

Despite his side’s loss toSpain on Wednesday, VanGinkel feels that should thepair meet again in next week’sfinal, then the outcome couldwell be different.

SUNDERLAND’s former chief scout Bryan ‘Pop’Robson has expressed his concern at the club’s growingpreference towards foreign imports over locally rearedplayers.

Robson was recently releasedfrom his position at the Stadiumof Light and was speaking justhours after England’s Under-21squad crashed out of the Euro-

– but they still have to be goodenough to play in the PremierLeague, which is pretty de-manding. But you read whereprobably Norwich is the onlyteam in the Premier League thatis fielding enough of a percent-age of English players, and Ifeel that’s a sad situation.”

An 81st minute winner fromOfir Kriaf condemned Englandto their worst ever EuropeanChampionship performance,and made them just the third

team to pick up no points dur-ing their three group games.Blaming his players forEngland’s failure, managerStuart Pearce is out-of-contractnext month and is unlikely tobe offered a new deal by theFootball Association.

With attention once again re-turning to Premier League acad-emies, Robson admits the in-flux of overseas talent remainshis biggest concern, with poten-tial development hard to see.

with two friendly matchesagainst Manchester City, onethere and one here.

“Taking on one of the new andmost powerful clubs in theworld will have a strong mediaimpact. It is all profit.”

Orta also spoke about the de-cision made by the Court ofArbitration for Sport to upholdMalaga’s ban from UEFA com-petitions, which could seeSevilla qualifying for theEuropa League.

Falcao, James Rodriguez andJoao Moutinho.

Monaco are also expected tooffer Cristiano a salary of 20million euros per year, surpass-ing the 15 million euros per yearthat has been tabled by Madrid.

2 9 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Messi Worth Five

Gareth Bales

Begovic Happy At Stoke

Joaquin Set For FiorentinaSwitch

...FabregasDenies Move

Atletico Madrid In

Hunt For Gomez

Barcelona

Keen On

Lewandowski

Belhanda Available For 2m Pounds

ATLETICO Madridare the latest club to belinked with a move forBayern Munich forwardMario Gomez.

Gomez, 27, has said hewants to leave Bayernafter four years so he canplay in “100% of games”rather than spending timeon the bench.

The Germanyinternational dropped downthe pecking order in theBavarian club’s record-breaking season, havingmissed the start because ofankle surgery.

He joined Bayern fromStuttgart in a +35 milliontransfer in 2009, and hisagent Uli Ferber told kicker:“Mario does not run awayfrom anything - but hewants to play regularly. Hedoes not want to play in50% of games, but in100%”.

Gomez has been heavilylinked with a transfer toItaly, with Napoli,Fiorentina and Juventusinterested - and kicker saysAtletico have now joinedthe race.

“The tendency is still [amove to] Italy,” Ferber said.“There have been no finaltalks with any club.”

Despite only playing in 32Bayern games, not all ofthem as part of the startingline-up, Gomez has scored19 goals this season.

ACCORDING to reports,Barcelona have joined the race forthe signature of BorussiaDortmund forward RobertLewandowski.

The Polish international has sofar been linked to Bundesliga andEuropean champions BayernMunich, as well as ManchesterUnited.

However, according to Spanishtelevision programme ‘PuntoPelota’, the Catalans are nowlooking to sign the 24-year-oldstriker.

The player is said to beinterested in a move to Bayern,but Dortmund are reluctant to sellanother one of their superstars totheir direct rivals following thetransfer of Mario Gotze.

According to the same report,Barça are willing to offer 30million euros for the playerincluding a possible loan deal foryoung winger Gerard Deulofeu.

BARCELONA playmakerCesc Fabregas has describedspeculation linking him with amove away from the Nou Campas “absurd”.

Fabregas has been in and outof the Barca first team followinghis return to the Catalan clubfrom Arsenal in 2011 and thathas led to reports that severalBarclays Premier League clubsmight try and tempt the Spaininternational back to Englandthis summer.

However, the 26-year-old hasbeen keen to stress he sees hisfuture at Barca and re-iteratedthat stance in an interview withMarca, as he said: “If someonesays anything that isn’t that Iwant to play at Barca, it’scompletely absurd.”

He added: “I’ve always saidthat I’m happy at Barca.Whoever says that I’m leavingdoesn’t know me and has neverspoken with me nor with myagent, because he knows that Idon’t want him to talk with otherpeople about me.

FIORENTINA havestruck an agreement withMalaga to sign wingerJoaquin.

The 31-year-old is on theverge of penning a contractwith the Viola, who will playEuropa League football nextseason.

No financial details of thetransfer have been released,although local press arereporting that the Serie Aside will pay a +1.5 millionfee for the player.

A statement published onviolachannel.tv read:“Fiorentina and Malagahave reached an agreementfor the outright transfer ofJoaquin Sanchez Rodriguez,subject to the player signinga contract.”

Malaga, where Joaquinspent two years, thanked theformer Spain internationalfor his services beforewishing him well via astatement on their officialwebsite.

The statement read:“Malaga would like to thank

Joaquin for his dedication,professionalism andcommitment to the club andwishes him luck in his firstprofessional experienceoutside of Spain.”

Los Boquerones, who losttheir appeal against a one-year ban from Europeancompetition on Tuesday,

also saw Manuel Iturra leavefor Granada on Wednesdayafter his contract ended at theclub.

Joaquin, who arrived at LaRosaleda in 2011, hit eightgoals in 45 appearances in allcompetitions for Malaga lastterm, playing a key role as theside reached the quarter-finalsof the Champions League.

The winger, who has won 57caps for Spain, has also playedfor Real Betis and Valencia.

IT is one of football’s great hypothetical questions: how muchwould Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi be worth on the openmarket?

Could you put a price on aplayer who has been named theworld’s best for the past fourseasons, scored a ridiculous 92goals in 2012 and is alreadyBarcelona’s all-time recordgoalscorer at the age of just 25?

The CIES FootballObservatory’s Annual Reviewfor 2013 has attempted toanswer that question,producing its list of the 60 mostvaluable players as part of itsyearly, authoritative look atEuropean football.

It’s no surprise to see Messitake top spot, but his estimatedvalue is staggering, with theFootball Observatory decidingthe Argentina international isworth between 217-253 millioneuros (£184-£215m).

By comparison, RealMadrid’s own goal machineCristiano Ronaldo is valued at

‘just’ 102-118m euros (£87-£100m), meaning Messi is worthtwice as much as his big La Ligarival - according to the FootballObservatory at least.

The Barca star is also worth noless than five times as much asTottenham’s Gareth Bale, who isbeing linked with an £85 millionmove to Real Madrid but is valuedin this study at between 44-51meuros (£37-£43m).

As the study’s report explains:“If Lionel Messi was transferred,he would certainly break therecord for the highest transfer feeever paid. The economic value ofthe Argentinian superstar is closeto his buyout clause: 250m euros(£213m).

“All the key parametersgenerally increasing the value ofa player converge for Messi: topperforming employer club,consistently outstanding

performances, above all interms of goals, high level ofnational A-team represented,attacking position, middlecareer age and recentlyextended long-term contract.”

On Ronaldo, the report adds:“With only two seasons ofcontract remaining and aged 28,Real Madrid probably has thelast opportunity to sell him at aprofit. This makes his transfermore probable than that ofMessi.”

Bale, though, must make dowith joint ninth place, behindWayne Rooney amongst others,in the latest report which is“estimated on the basis of anexclusive econometric model.”CIES Football Observatory2013 Annual Review’s Top 10players by value:1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) 217.4-252.6m euros2. Cristiano Ronaldo (RealMadrid/Portugal) 102.2-

118.7m euros3. Edinson Cavani (Napoli/Uruguay) 58.3-67.8m euros4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium) 55.5-64.5m euros5. Sergio Aguero (ManchesterCity/Argentina) 48.6-56.4meuros6. Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia) 46.3-53.8m euros7. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan/Italy) 45.5-52.9m euros8. Wayne Rooney (ManchesterUnited/England) 45.1-52.4meuros9. David Silva (ManchesterCity/Spain) 43.5-50.5m euros10. Gareth Bale (Tottenham/Wales) 43.5-50.5m euros

Liverpool.Despite United and the

Reds reportedly monitoringthe Bosnian goalkeeper, heinsists that his immediatefuture lies at the BritanniaStadium.

“I am happy to be here andI am happy to stay here. I amlooking forward to reportingback in pre-season, meetingthe new manager and staffand cracking on with the newseason,” he told the StokeSentinel.

“The most important thingis I am at a club where I amsettled and I feel comfortable.Everyone has been reallygood to me and the chairmanhas been fantastic so I can’treally complain.”

And Begovic believes thathe faces a tough challenge tokeep his place in the Stokeside after the arrival of JackButland and the continuedpresence of ThomasSorenson.

“Jack is a good up andcoming keeper and everyoneknows about Thomas and thequalities he has,” he added.

“We have a strong group ofgoalkeepers and I am lookingforward to being part of it.”

STOKE goalkeeperAsmir Begovic says he ishappy at the club, despitereported interest fromManchester United and

M O N T P E L L I E Rpresident Louis Nicollin hasadmitted he would settle fora cut-price +12 million toallow Younes Belhanda toleave the Ligue 1 club.

Arsenal, TottenhamHotspur, Leverkusen andFenerbahce have all beenlinked to the artful Moroccointernational, while Nicollinhimself claimed in aninterview with 10 Sport lastweek that AC Milan, InterMilan, Atletico Madrid,Galatasaray and Aston Villa

had made approaches forBelhanda, 23.

Nicollin told RMC onWednesday he is willing tocompromise on his initialasking price for a player whocame through the club’s youthacademy before playing acentral role in their surpriseLigue 1 title win a year ago.

“We’d need to get +15million, but I’d settle for 14 or12,” the millionaire said,revealing he had receivedoffers for the highly-ratedmidfielder. “From France, no,

but from England, Germanyand the United ArabEmirates, yes.”

Remy Cabella, 23, willmost likely be at the Stadede la Mosson next season,however, despite attractinginterest from majorEuropean clubs himself. TheFrance Under-21international has been linkedto Marseille and AtleticoMadrid while Arsenal arealso reportedly keeping aclose eye on his progress.

Nicollin, however, has

frequently stated his desire tokeep the Ajaccio-bornattacking midfielder for afurther season at least, andthough he did not entirelyrule out Cabella leaving theclub this summer, he is -unlike with Belhanda -unwilling to allow his prizeasset to go on the cheap.

“I didn’t say he was ‘un-transferable’. I think that it’sin his interest to stay anotheryear or two at Montpellier. Ifa club wants to give us +40or +50 million, we’ll sell. Butthat would be stupid.”

Lionel Messi

Younes Belhanda

3 0 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

. . . Tsonga Slides ThroughAgainst Vasselin

Benin Play Spoilsport Against Mali

• Murray

Striking EaglesMiss Flight To SA

• Man of the match Salami mobbed by teammates

Ivoirians Gosso And Abdul Razack Expelled

From The Squad

Tennis Championship

Murray Completes Victory At Queen’s

Gabon’s Hopes Hang OnA

Thread

IVOIRIANS Jean-JacquesGosso and Abdul Razack havebeen expelled from the nationalteam after fighting at the endof a training session, at theFélix Houphouët-Boigny Sta-dium on Wednesday afternoon.

The two midfielders swung ateach other for no apparent rea-son as the training was comingto an end.

GABON’s slender hopesof reaching the next stage ofqualifying for the 2014 FIFAWorld Cup hang on a victoryover Niger in their clash inFranceville on Saturday.

Even a win will not beenough if Congo get a pointfrom their match againstBurkina Faso.

Gabon have been far fromimpressive in their qualifica-tion campaign so far, thegains they seemingly madeat the 2012 Africa Cup ofNations have dissipated.

The reverse fixture between

“The team are not on board.All the seats in business classare empty,” Arafat said.

“Rather other passengers onthis flight have been asking mewhen the players we board.”

The Super Eagles were tohave flown out of Windhoek toJohannesburg on Thursday af-ternoon, and be on their wayto Sao Paulo, Brazil, minutesbefore 6pm South African time.

They would then arrive SaoPaulo by midnight and connectimmediately to Belo Horizonte,venue of their opening matchof the FIFA ConfederationsCup against Tahiti on Monday.

The Eagles have insisted theybe paid at least $5,000 for a 1-1 draw with hosts Namibia onWednesday night.

They said they were not prop-erly communicated on this payslash.

Top Nigeria supporter RaufLadipo told Nigeriainfo FMLagos: “I’m not happy with thissituation. The draw was a goodresult for us and we shouldhave given some considerationand we should have paid thema full win bonus.

“It is not good if we are go-ing to the Confederations Cupand the players are not happy.

“The government shouldcome and assist the NFF.”

BENIN coach ManuelAmoros has said they could bethe spoilsport in Group H of theWorld Cup qualifiers as theyvisit Mali this weekend.

Mali will need to beat Beninat home on Sunday to keep pacewith group leaders Algeria inthe race for 2014 World Cupplaces.

Algeria are top of Group H onnine points, two points aheadof Mali, who had to come frombehind to draw bottom teamRwanda 1-1 at home last weekwith young Aston Villamidfielder Yacouba Sylla mak-ing his Mali debut.

The draw at home added withAlgeria win in Benin have putMali in a tight corner as the racefor Brazil 2014 heats up.

In the reverse fixture, a RazakOmotoyossi 18th minute goalhad stopped Mali in Benin last

FRENCHMAN Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat compa-triot Edouard Roger-Vasselin6-3 6-7 6-3 to reach the thirdround of the Aegon Cham-pionships at a cool, windyQueen’s Club on Thursday asorganisers tried to get thegrasscourt event back onschedule.

Fourth seed Tsonga, whoreached the French Opensemi-finals last week, did nothave things all his own wayon a still slippery centrecourt and was stretched to adeciding set.

Tsonga completed victorywith an ace after one hour 49minutes and will be back inaction later against Dutch-man Igor Sijsling.

The Scot, a two-timesformer champion at Queen’sand top seed, resumed a set

Top seed Andy Murray wasdue back on court to continuehis second-round matchagainst Frenchman NicolasMahut after rain stoppedplay on Wednesday with

Murray leading by a set.Should Murray complete

his victory he will face athird- round match lateragainst Australia’s MarinkoMatosevic.

AFRICAN champions Nige-ria failed to fly to South Africafrom Namibia Thursday due toa row over win bonus for aWorld Cup qualifier.

They were to have boardedSouth Africa Airways flightSA075 in the morning fromNamibia to Johannesburg, buta correspondent of NigeriainfoFM Lagos, Arafat Aliu, whowas also on the same flight,informed they did not turn up.

up and level at 2-2 in the sec-ond.

The next eight games went

with serve before Murray,who was kept out of theFrench Open by a back in-jury and was making hiscomeback against the manwho knocked him out of thepre-Wimbledon warm-up

tournament at the same stagelast year, took the tie-break7-4

Murray will play MarinkoMatosevic later in the day ashe looks to repeat his feat of2009 and 2011 when helifted the trophy at the westLondon tournament.

Round 3 results2-Tomas Berdych (Czech

Republic) beat 16-GregaZemlja (Slovenia) 6-3 6-4

Round 2 results:1-Andy Murray (Britain)

beat Nicolas Mahut (France)6-3 7-6(4)

4-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

(France) beat EdouardRoger-Vasselin (France) 6-36-7(2) 6-3

Igor Sijsling (Netherlands)beat 14-Denis Istomin(Uzbekistan) 7-6(4) 6-1

Feliciano Lopez (Spain)beat 11-Julien Benneteau(France) 7-6(5) 6-4

Andy Murray’s completed a 6-3 7-6 victory over NicolasMahut to reach round three of the Aegon Championshipsat Queen’s Club.

It took several teammates andstaff members to separate thetwo players, before the eyes ofFederation’s president SidyDiallo, several clubs’ presidentsand a huge crowd of Elephants’fans.

The sad spectacle on their

part was not at all to the tasteof the supporters, the media andthe numerous officials present,with an enraged Sidy Diallopromptly leaving the stadium.

And it did not take long be-fore action was taken againstthe guilty parties, who were

asked to leave the squad beforefurther sanctions.

Lamouchi will therefore leaveAbidjan on Thursday morningwithout two of his defensivemidfielders, to head to Dar EsSalaam where the Elephantswill face Tanzania on Sunday inthe 5th round of the 2014 WorldCup qualifiers.

year June.“We are prepared to play the

spoilsport in Mali,” saidAmoros, who admitted he wasnot certain about his future withthe West Africans.

“What is certain is that if thisteam is allowed to work with-out interferences, it will be a farbetter team.”

Mali will now hope to avengethis loss while also hopingRwanda could at least peg backvisiting Algeria on Sunday inKigali.

The Eagles of Mali have beenone of Africa’s most consistentteams in the last two years af-ter they twice finished third atthe Africa Cup of Nations in2012 and 2013.

In June, they enjoyed their bestever showing on the FIFArankings after they were placed

23rd in the world and third inAfrica.

Young French coach PatriceCarteron has stayed in charge ofthe Eagles of Bamako despite re-cently taking up a contract with DRCongo champions TP Mazembe.

these two teams ended 0-0last June, but Niger wereawarded the points afterGabon were found guilty offielding an eligible player –Charly Moussono.

That was in fact Niger’sonly ‘success’ againstGabon, the latter have wonall three of the previousmeetings between the sides.

Congo lead the pool with10 points, followed byBurkina Faso (six), Gabon(four) and Niger (three).

3 1 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Fans Anticipate RobustPerformance

Lagosians Plot To Dislodge Londoners

Governor Fashola ofLagos State

CoachWants

Board ToRevampChess

NNL MovesAgainstViolence

3SC Shootdown Kaduna Utd

Int’l Boxing Bout

Confederation Cup

FOOTBALL enthusiasts have expressed hope in theability of the Super Eagles to put up a good showing at theFIFA Confederations Cup beginning in Brazil on Saturday.

The fans, who spoke inseparate interviews yesterdayin Abuja, said they expectedthe team to at least have asemi-finals berth.

The Super Eagles will faceTahiti on June 17 in Group Band later take on Uruguay andworld champions, Spain.

Alhaji MustaphaMohammed, Director ofFinance and Administration,National Sports Commission(NSC), told NAN that asemi-final berth for theEagles was a realistic target.

“We will do well in theConfederations Cup by thegrace of God. Certainly, weare aiming at the semi-finals.

“As for me, if they can getto the semi-finals, they wouldhave done well.

“However, if they can gobeyond that, then it will be aplus; you know that infootball, anything ispossible,’’ he said.

NSC’s Press Secretary,Tony Ohaeri, said the SuperEagles were psychologicallyprepared for theConfederations Cup.

“The Super Eagles arementally sound at themoment and have not lostany competitive match sincewinning the Africa Cup

Nations (AFCON) title inSouth Africa early in the year.

Ohaeri said he hoped thatthey could take the samespirit to the ConfederationsCup.

He added that it was goodfor our national image and theplayers’ psyche as theyprepare for the 2014 WorldCup in Brazil.

“I believe they are in theright frame of mind for thecompetition, though they willbe competing with bigfootball nations in Europe,South America, and so on.

“But I am confident thatwith the crop of boys we havein the squad, they can holdtheir own against any team inthe world.

“I am not expecting themto lift the trophy, but I am surethey are going to give a goodaccount of themselves; theywill represent Africa verywell.

However, Romanus Ugwu,a journalist with the Sunnewspapers, called onNigerians not to expect toomuch from the Super Eaglesin the competition.

“You are aware that wewill be playing the world’sbest. It is better Nigerians donot hope on anything andenjoy the ConfederationsCup matches.

“My only prayer is thatAfrica’s representatives inthe tournament are notdisgraced,’’ Ugwu said.

The Super Eagles will onThursday afternoon fly toJohannesburg to connect aSouth African Airways flightto Sao Paulo.

They will then travel toBelo Horizonte for their firstmatch of the 2013 FIFAConfederations Cuptournament against Tahiti onJune 17.

COACH Wasiu Bisiriyuof the Lagos State BoxingAssociation, on Thursdaysaid his boxers were alreadypreparing to defeat theirBritish Amateur BoxingAssociation counterpartswhen they meet in London.

Bisiriyu disclosed this inLagos, while speaking onpreparation by the boxers forthe fourth InternationalBouts scheduled for October

in London.He said the boxers had

begun intensive training todislodge the Londoners whohad won the first and drew inthe third editions with theNigerians who defeated themin the second.

In the first edition, theLondon boxers won 4-3, inthe second, the Lagos boxersalso claimed a 4-3 victory,while they drew 3-3 in the

third.Bisiriyu said that the

invitational bout wasfacilitated by Olawale Edun,the Chairman, Lagos StateBoxing Hall of Fame andpromoter of the Lagosmonthly “Saturday BoxingShow’’.

“We have to begin earlypreparation to strategise andselect the best boxers fromthe “Saturday Boxing Show,’’

who will defeat the Londonboxers,’’ he said.

The coach said that fourofficials and eight boxers,including seven male and afemale, would represent thestate in London.

“We are aware that theBritish boxers haveexperience, that is why webegan to train early for themto be in top shape to unleashterror on their counterparts,’’Bisiriyu said.

He said that exposure wasgood for the boxers, addingthat it would improve theircompetitive edge ininternational competitions.

Bisiriyu thanked Edun forhis contribution to thedevelopment of boxing in thestate and the exposure ofboxers to internationalcompetitions.

Meanwhile, Edun, a formerLagos State Commissionerfor Finance, told NAN thatthe Hall of Fame and the stategovernment would jointlybankroll the cost of the tripto London.

Hall of Fame and the stategovernment had sponsoredthe three editions of theInternational Bouts betweenthe state boxers and theRepton Boxing Club ofLondon in Lagos.

EUGENE Akliwu, a coachwith the Nigeria ChessFederation (NCF), says athletesand coaches are expecting asignificant change from the newboard.

Akliwu made this known in aninterview with newsmen inLagos on Wednesday.

He said they expect the newadministration to revamp theNCF, through regularcompetitions, refresher coursesand the provision of requisiteequipment.

The coach explained that theelection of some of the new boardmembers would bring about aturnaround in the affairs of thefederation.

“I believe the new board isready to take chess to a higherlevel, and also hope that therewill be programmes for coachesand athletes from nowhenceforth,’’ he said.

According to him, most of thecoaches lack the means to

THE Nigeria National League(NNL) yesterday in Abuja pledgedto impose more “strict“ sanctionson any club that allow their fanscarry out violence during matches,an official disclosed.

NNL board member, KunleSoname, told newsmen that thedecision was due to continuousviolence at match venues, in spiteof punishments imposed on erringclubs.

Reports say that until now, theNNL either ordered erring clubs toplay their home matches away, orplay their home matches behindclosed doors.

This was in addition to payingfines— depending on the extent ofthe violence.

“We will continue to do whatwe have been doing, that issanctioning teams that allow theirsupporters to assault or harassreferees.

“We will always stand up forthat and we will make sure thatsuch teams are really brought tobook.

“But, with the situation now, wehave to start applying stiffersanctions and penalties on teamsthat their supporters won’t behavethemselves at match venues,’’Soname said.

According to him, violenceerupted during matches becausefans no longer see football as asport.

“These things (violence) keephappening and it is justunfortunate because people takefootball, not as sports, but as a win-at-all-cost thing.”

He said that it was unfortunatefor some clubs that face sanctions,because the acts were at timescarried out by non fans orpassersby, and not club managers.

“Some of these violence are notperpetrated by the management ofthese clubs; they are done bypassersby, or people that just cometo the stadium to watch,’’ Sonamesaid.

NNL is the second tier leagueafter the Nigeria ProfessionalFootball League (NPFL).

GBOLAHAN Salamishone again as Shooting Starsdefeated Kaduna United 2-0in a Nigeria league matchWednesday.

Kaduna United gave 3SC ascare as the first half endedgoalless, but Salami thenopened scoring to the delightof the Ibadan fans in the 63rdminute win a free kick goal.

Veteran left back MutiuAdegoke made it 2-0 withanother free kick goal in the71st minute.

Man of the Match Salamitold MTNFootball.com hewas delighted to get his fifthgoal of the season.

I am very happy to haveended my goals’ droughtbecause my fans have beeneager to see me get back to myscoring form. I thank God forthe goal. I dedicate the goal tomy fans who have beensupporting me,” Salami said.

I must give kudos to my

coaches who have been therefor me, instructing andperfecting my free kicks.”

Adegoke said his goal wasa sign of good thing to come.

“I am happy to get my firstgoal of the season in thisgame, I am hopeful of gettingmore,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kadunacoach Ben Duamlong blamedhis goalkeeper RaymondKafuna and the centre refereeS.E Okugbona from EdoState for the loss.

“My goalkeeper justgifted 3SC cheap goals. Heshould have done with thosefree kicks,” Duamlong said.

“The referee just kills myboys move because we wouldhave opened the scoring inthe first half, my boys playgood football.”

Furthermore, 3SC coachAkeem Busari said maturitygave them victory over

Kaduna United. “Kaduna United have

good team but we were betterthan them with the calibre ofplayers we paraded and thisis our last home game in thefirst round which means wecan’t afford to lose or draw,”Busari said.

sponsor themselves tointernational seminars and assuch are not too conversant withthe current trends in chess.

“Implementation of new rulesare usually discussed in FIDEseminars and some of us are notprivileged to travel abroad toattend such seminars.

“We do not have to go toseminars aboard, it can bearranged and organised locally.

“All we need is a resourceperson from FIDE, through this,majority of us can benefit andbecome conversant with currentdevelopments in the sport,’’ hesaid.

He also urged the NCF boardto ensure that athletes were giventhe required exposure to get themmore committed to the sport.

THE Ondo State Table TennisAssociation on Thursday said ithad started a “Classic WeeklyChampionship’’ to keep its maleplayers in shape ahead of majorcompetitions.

The association’s ChiefCoach, Adedotun Omoniyi, saidin Akure that the weeklytournament was organised to getplayers ready for competitionsexpected to hold in the year.

According to Omoniyi, theweekly championship wouldenter its fourth week on Saturdayat the Table Tennis Hall of theAkure Township Stadium.

The championship wasinitiated by the coach andsupported by Adam Chandy, aboard member of theassociation.

Omoniyi added that thecompetition would help improvethe skills of the players andpromote the game in every nookand cranny of the state.

“It will help to test their abilityon the table and the cash rewardinvolved will encourage andmake the players to remaincommitted to the game.

“The weekly competition isonly for boys and our plan is tointroduce a mid-weekchampionship for the girls, toalso help their development,”Omoniyi said.

National junior champion,Ojo Onaolapo, won the lastedition with 10 points, whileIsah Nurani placed second withnine points and FagbamilaAkinwale third with sevenpoints.

Tade Adeola and OginiOlasunkanmi came fourth andfifth with six and five pointsrespectively.

Tennis

OndoIntroducesWeeklyTourney

Stephen Keshi

3 2 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

By KINGSLEY OGBEIDE-IHAMA

F E E DBACK

CMYK

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Should History RememberJonathan?

WHEN PresidentGoodluck Jonathan wasproposing a-six-year singletenure for the President andGovernors in Nigeria, quitea lot of persons did not un-derstand the reasons be-hind it.

The truth is that our cur-rent democratic practicewhere Ministers, Commis-sioners, Board membersand a host of other politicalappointees are nominatedby a chain of political partyleaders creates a situationin which the President orGovernors could havewithin their personnel, thosewho may be engaged inactivities that are contraryto the ultimate goal of thePresident or Governors.

In other words, the Presi-dent was expecting Nigeri-ans to reckon with the pe-riod it would take for a po-litical ruler to understand thecapacity of persons thisprocess offers to work with.For instance, when Minis-ters, Commissioners andBoard members are nomi-nated from each State orlocal government areas, itwould be highly difficult forthe President or Governorto instantly become awareof the nominees’ compe-tencies and eventual contri-butions to good gover-nance.

Therefore it could take asmuch as a total of 2 -3years period for the Presi-dent or Governors to selectfrom the long list of sug-gested nominees; for thenational or States Housesof Assembly to screen andapprove the nominees; forthe President or Governorsto draw-up a budget in-linewith felt needs; for the na-tional or State Houses ofAssembly to deliberate andapprove the budget; and fi-nally, the snail paced natureof implementing the budgetin a country that is grapplingwith huge infrastructuraldeficits, weighty moral bur-den, coupled with a feed-back process which is oftenpolitically manipulated inthe manner that keeps aruler totally outside the boxof realism.

From all of these, Nigeriahas easily become a coun-try not only with the highnumber of sit-tight politi-cians, but also the countrywith a worrisome number of

slumber, only then wouldsuch rulers come to thestark reality of all that werewrongly assumed.

Accordingly, unless aPresident or Governorcomes unto the political po-sition with the ‘extra oil’, heor she might demonstratenothing more than the atti-tude of a poorly-preparedbride. Although, this dearlyneeded ‘extra oil’ could havecome as a divine supple-ment for a ruler who mountsthe altar of power duly sanc-tified by a transparent pro-cess, but I am afraid, mostpolitical rulers lack this qual-ity, and therefore the goodLord would not for the exi-gency of humanity ’sprogress, justify what is im-moral.

It is for this singular rea-son those who have comeunto the mantle of leader-ship through credible pro-

scheme the means of un-dermining the ideal, shouldnot expect to find saints be-ing recommended by suchpartners in crime.

However, we must alsounderstand how difficult it isfor a sitting President orGovernor to smoothly sail asa loner in these circum-stances. No matter the gen-eral acceptance of a ruler’s

how these conflicts andresolutions are bound to in-fringe on a ruler’s constitu-tional mandate and time.

Consequently, if we agreethat this is a corrupt andperpetually tending to be acorruptive system, it alsomeans it would continue togrow in its magnitude andmeans of sustenance. Andjust because the President

or the Governor desires notto ‘rock the boat’ at his peril,a way would always besorted out to peacefullymanage or sustain the cor-ruption.

Quite frankly, it will be dif-ficult to find a NigerianPresident or Governor whowould brazenly fight corrup-tion and risk losing the seatof power. That could be con-sidered highly unpardonablein a society which wouldeasily ostracise him for hav-ing attained such a positionof prominence only to comeout poorer. Certainly not ina society where the Chris-tian or Moslem Institutionsare not morally, if not reli-giously compared to makeprovisions for such aperson’s lacks.

Undoubtedly, this is noarea where these religiousauthorities feel obligated toset examples by instilling thevalues and benefits of up-rightness in public service.Not when in a frenzied com-petition of proving their bet-ter managed but exorbitanteducational facilities. Or thepiousness that comes fromowning private jets.

The tradition which makesthe ordinary Nigerian a re-ceptacle for these falloutshave only been questionedbut not forcefully correctedas other nations have expe-rienced. And for those whomay want to know, suchforceful processes usuallynever appear as picnics.

For now also, President

Goodluck Jonathan wouldhave noticed that the will toforcefully challenge certainsituations is a mark of a rulerwith the ‘extra lamp oil’which is aimed at keepingthe glow of good gover-nance beyond the politicalbarricade of sycophancy. Ittakes a forceful will to drivesuch initiatives in our pecu-liar circumstances.

By forcefully allowing theStates’ governorship elec-tions to be freely and fairlyconducted; by the civilisedadoption of the ‘EmergencyRule’; by the will to chal-lenge the insensitivity ofBoko Haram; by the boldattempt at a Mid-Term self-appraisal; the President issurely beginning to demon-strate something tangible.

Thus, while PresidentGoodluck Jonathan couldbe pardoned for being be-trayed by time; he wouldnever be pardoned for al-lowing himself to be be-trayed by the corruptive po-litical system: Not when hetook an oath to correct all ofthis on behalf of thecorruptively ravaged Nigeri-ans: Not when he is deemedto always had the capacityof ensuring his political partyand indeed a lot other as-pects of our common heri-tage are managed as Insti-tutions for grooming uprightleaders and thereby savingthe President and Gover-nors valuable time of havingto find saints in the city ofSodom and Gomorrah.

cesses, almost always suc-ceed; whereas those whorely on the brinkmanship ofrigging have always failed.It is in line with the truism‘Show me your friends; andI would tell who you are’.This is why a prospectiveruler who sits with others to

well-aimed cause, the na-ture of our political practicewould attract the might ofother detractors to rideroughshod over such an un-common ambition.

In all of this, a discerningPresident or Governorwould only need to adoptmethods that will not overtlyendanger his anticipatedoutcome. Importantly too,we must also appreciate

“Quite frankly, it will be difficult to find a Nigerian President orGovernor who would brazenly fight corruption and risk losingthe seat of power. That could be considered highly unpardon-able in a society which would easily ostracise him for havingattained such a position of prominence only to come out poorer.Certainly not in a society where the Christian or Moslem Insti-tutions are not morally, if not religiously compared to makeprovisions for such a person’s lacks.”

• President Goodluck Jonathan

persons suffering from po-litical-power-lust or come-back syndrome. Why thisprevalence? Because whenmost of the rulers completetheir tenure in office, andaway from the politicalcradle which sycophantskeep rocking in order tosend the rulers into a deep